Not all municipalities in Drenthe have succeeded in arranging locations for the emergency reception of asylum seekers. However, the joint mission to provide housing for 450 refugees has been successful. Recently, 457 places have been realized in our province or will be set up in the short term, according to an inventory by RTV Drenthe. In addition, the extension of the reception in the Expo Hall in Assen also counts. This brings the total number to 957 reception places.
The twelve Drenthe municipalities were instructed via the Drenthe Security Region to contribute to the reception of asylum seekers, in order to relieve the burden on the application center in Ter Apel. Hundreds of people spent the night in the open air there until September.
The municipalities of Hoogeveen, De Wolden, Midden-Drenthe and Noordenveld have not yet been able to arrange reception places. For example, Noordenveld first wishes to discuss this with residents, and Hoogeveen and De Wolden struggle with a lack of good reception places. “It was difficult enough to find housing for Ukrainians,” said a spokesman. “Many buildings in the municipality are not available for housing.”
“I think we can be genuinely very satisfied with the way in which the municipalities are doing their best together, within the possibilities that are available,” says spokesman Bart Raaijmakers of the Drenthe Safety Region. “The image we have is that it looks like every municipality will eventually make a contribution to the crisis emergency shelter.”
The fact that not every municipality has been able to actually realize reception places before 1 October is due to several factors. “There must be suitable locations,” continues Raaijmakers. “If you have a sports hall, there are sports clubs in it. A bungalow park has to do with holidays, for example. There must also be a group accommodation and if it is there, it must be made suitable. That does not always work in one or two weeks. If we look nationally, very few municipalities have been able to meet the demand before 1 October.”
The municipality that stands out the most is Meppel. Since last year, 98 men have been staying on a small cruise ship in the city center. A second asylum boat will arrive in November, where another 110 refugees will be accommodated, to relieve the burden on the application center in Ter Apel. This boat will be moored in the Meppeler Diep, in the middle of an industrial estate. “This is not ideal,” said councilor Egbert Knorren (CDA) at the end of September. “If we had a lot of space in homes or buildings, we would.”
In the municipality of Aa en Hunze en Assen, asylum seekers are accommodated in a former care and residential farm. In the municipality of Tynaarlo, asylum seekers have been staying in the Laarkerk in Zuidlaren since the end of August. As of this week, that location has been moved to the Wapen van Vries hotel in the town of the same name. A total of 47 male asylum seekers will stay there until the end of the year.
In Emmen, the sports hall in Bargeres has already been used several times for a few nights as an acute emergency, but since this week it offers accommodation to fifty people. In Coevorden, the old Rabobank on the Market is being prepared for reception. From 17 October, fifty asylum seekers will also be housed there. There are three reception locations in the municipality of Borger-Odoorn. There are units next to the town hall and use is made of a group accommodation at the campsite in Exloo. 33 people live there. Seventeen other refugees will soon come to Drouwenerveen. When that will happen is not yet known.