Groningen mayors: ‘Asylum crisis is knowingly maintained by The Hague and other municipalities’ | Domestic

All nine Groningen mayors and the King’s Commissioner of the province wrote this in an angry letter to Minister Yesilgöz of Justice and Security on Monday afternoon. With the letter, the directors want to encourage their fellow mayor Velema, who has been struggling with an overcrowded registration center for asylum seekers in Ter Apel for two years. “We find it incomprehensible and unacceptable that this can happen in our country,” the mayor and commissioner write.

“We are dealing with a situation that we believe is knowingly maintained by the (outgoing) cabinet, the national parliament that keeps each other in its grip and the majority of the municipalities in the country,” the mayors say. ‘After the House of Representatives elections, a solution seems further away than ever. Although limiting the so-called ‘influx’ is the political theme for the near future, receiving asylum seekers who are already in our country is now the duty of our society. A society that has traditionally been committed to peace and security.’

On Wednesday, summary proceedings brought by the municipality of Westerwolde (which includes Ter Apel) against COA will be heard in the court in Groningen. The municipality wants the COA to adhere to the agreed maximum occupancy of 2,000 residents in the registration center in Ter Apel. That number has been exceeded for months, making it difficult to guarantee hygiene and safety. The residents of the village of Ter Apel also experience a lot of nuisance (theft, burglaries) from some of the asylum seekers from the registration center.

The fact that Ter Apel has been full for months is partly because dozens of other Dutch municipalities do not or hardly want to receive asylum seekers. In recent months, several Groningen towns have come to Ter Apel’s aid by offering night shelter to people for whom there is no room in the registration center. ‘We wanted to set an example of how governments can take joint responsibility. So it is possible! And that strengthens our conviction that it is a matter of will, not a matter of ability.’

The Groningen mayors write that ‘their limit has now also been reached’. The situation is at the expense of the quality of life in Ter Apel and the entire province. ‘We have had many discussions with the ministry, including the need for multiple registration centers in the country; we have asked Defense for help, we have explained to politicians again and again what the direness of the situation in the reception center was and is. However, this has not led to a changed situation.’

The COA did not give journalists permission to report from the registration center for months, but made an exception in December. Because the reception organization also wants the occupancy of the center to decrease (quickly), because hygiene and safety can hardly be guaranteed anymore. “The story of Ter Apel must now be told,” said regional manager Johan Velkers.