The COA’s question whether 300 asylum seekers may be established on the grounds of the care institution De Zorgboog in Bakel has hit the village like a bomb. On a well-attended walk-in evening, tempers occasionally ran high. Resident Hans van der Graaf is very angry. His wife lives on the property. “We have been talking about new construction for years, it is not possible for us, but apparently it is for asylum seekers.”
According to Hans, the residents of the Zorgboog and the employees are terribly concerned about the possible arrival of asylum seekers. “My wife is very shocked and does nothing but cry.” On the grounds of the Zorgboog, people with dementia or people with an acquired brain defect receive care. There is also a hospice. Many residents of Bakel like to walk in the wooded area and take the children to the Kabouterbos.
“No one will feel safe there in the future. It is people with brain injuries who handle this differently than we do,” says De Graaf. “The entire new-build plan for us is in tatters. The nursing staff already indicates that they are working a lot of overtime with little security. How will that be done later? Will we get something like in Budel? Soon the nursing staff will also work elsewhere.”
The COA’s eye has fallen on the site and the municipality of Gemert-Bakel has been asked whether asylum seekers can be accommodated there. But the municipality has yet to make a decision, and so does the municipal council. There should first be temporary units for a period of two years. In the meantime, houses should be built for more permanent shelter. The bullet is therefore far from through the church in Bakel, but most residents are not reassured.
“And then also at a hospice, leave those people alone”
PVV leader Geert Wilders came to Bakel on Tuesday evening and was received with cheers. “I predict a lot of misery and inconvenience,” he says. “Not all asylum seekers are bad, but there is no asylum seekers center in the Netherlands where not a percentage of them cause nuisance and where people have misery.”
Villager Giovanni is also afraid of it. “We don’t have the time and money to deal with all this in Bakel and then also at a hospice, leave those people alone. We have an energy crisis here, high inflation, tight housing market, it is gradually time that we Dutchman to think. We can take care of everyone. But our own people have no money to take care of themselves. And I’m afraid that children and women cannot walk safely on the street.”
“I don’t dare to stay alone in the house anymore”
Maria lives against the grounds of the Zorgboog. “We are very concerned. Those people have to have a roof over their heads, but there are also ringleaders among them and that makes us feel unsafe. I don’t dare to stay alone in the house anymore. And can the grandchildren still come? The area will be completely different. Can’t we divide it, thirty people in Bakel, thirty in De Rips and a larger part in Gemert? Then everyone will accept it.”
Some residents are also not happy with how the municipality has organized the evening. “We can put our grievances on a piece of paper,” says a man. “But you want to have a conversation, that you can look at someone and have a conversation with them.”
During the evening, the mayor of Gemert-Bakel walks around to listen. A woman reads from a paper: “The pearl of Bakel, everyone stays away from it. It belongs to Bakel. For us. For our children. And our future.” A woman yells, “Well said!” A small applause follows.