From June, 150 Ukrainian refugees will be received in Huize de Berg, an old monastery in Heerlen.
In addition, Heerlen has offered the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) to temporarily expand the current asylum seekers center by 100 places. The municipality will announce this on Friday.
Preparations
“The location will be made suitable over the next two weeks by, among other things, placing beds and organizing care and safety,” reports Mayor Roel Wever. Local residents have now been informed and invited to an information evening.
A formal decision has yet to be made about the temporary expansion of the asylum seekers’ center in the Imstenrade district.
House of the Berg
The 150 refugees will be accommodated for one year in two wings of the monastery building on Gasthuisstraat, along Aambos. The complex was built in 1897 and served as a monastery, nursing home and care home for many years.
After a bankruptcy in 2019, a few sisters still live. “The municipality only takes in women and children here because they find it important to take into account the inhabitants of the monastery who are still present,” according to the municipality.
Also read: Parent company Huize de Berg declared bankrupt
View here where Ukrainian refugees are received in Limburg: