Mayor Roland van Kessel of the municipality of Cranendonck introduced an emergency ordinance on Tuesday for the asylum seekers’ center in Budel and the surrounding area. The measure will take effect immediately and will last at least until mid-February. This is reported by the Eindhovens Dagblad. The municipality of Cranendonck could not be reached for an explanation.
Van Kessel took the decision after a series of stabbing incidents in the asylum seekers center in the past three months. There were six reports of violence involving the use of a stab weapon.
Azc possible safety risk area
Due to the measure, everyone in the area can be searched preventively. In addition, a procedure is underway to make the asylum seekers’ center and the surrounding area a security risk area. The Public Prosecution Service must make a decision about this.
It is not known whether Van Kessel took the decision after consultation with the Ministry of Security and Justice. Last weekend, the ministry announced that it was taking the incidents seriously. A spokesperson said State Secretary Eric van der Burg takes the concerns of the municipality very seriously and shares them. She also announced that the minister would talk as soon as possible with the mayor and aldermen of Cranendonck ‘about a hard approach in the short and long term.’
‘Completely unacceptable’
Van der Burg finds it ‘completely unacceptable’ that a small group of refugees abuse the asylum system by causing nuisance and falling into criminal behaviour. “Tackling nuisance has absolute priority”, it adds.’
Problems have been going on around the asylum seekers’ center in Budel for much longer. This was previously a reason for the ministry to take a number of measures, including the appointment of a chain marine. This man, Jur Verbeek, must work with all parties involved to ensure that nuisance is kept to a minimum and that residents of Budel and the surrounding area feel safer. At the end of 2020, the situation threatened to escalate when citizens toyed with the plan to set up a vigilante group.
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