Eindhoven mayor Jeroen Dijsselbloem has written a letter about the reception of refugees to all municipalities in the southeast of Brabant as a cry for help. The number of shelter places lags far behind the number agreed for this year, the mayor writes. It is also “one of the worst performing regions in the entire country” when it comes to shelters for Ukrainians.
As of July 1, the Brabant Zuidoost region would offer 3,752 reception places for Ukrainians, but on October 25, 2023 there were still only 3,064 places. That has to be improved, says the mayor.
To accelerate the flow of asylum seekers, status holders should be able to find housing more quickly. “The implementation of our legal task to accommodate status holders is currently lagging behind significantly,” Dijsselbloem writes.
In the second half of this year, 1,411 should be housed in Southeast Brabant. As of November 1, there are only 470 status holders. “Performance varies considerably per municipality. The fact remains that almost all municipalities in our region also need to make a significant extra effort here.”
Providing solutions
Dijsselbloem therefore calls on municipalities to come up with creative solutions: “From vacancy management, office transformation and flexible housing, to the smart use of business parks, holiday parks and hotels.”
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