Emergency shelter for asylum seekers on camp beds in a sports hall? More and more municipalities find this ‘inhumane’ and opt for small residential units around a central pavilion tent. ‘More privacy, peace and comfort.’
With a temperature of almost 30 degrees and the sun tight in the sky, it looks a bit like a small holiday park full of simple houses around a central pavilion tent with terrace. But the reality is less pleasant: this is the emergency shelter for 150 asylum seekers in the Limburg municipality of Horst aan de Maas, situated on an event site in the woods near the castle ruins of Huys ter Horst.
‘We have to stop stacking people on camp beds in a sports hall or library,’ says location manager Etienne van den Elzen during the tour of the site. ‘Here the asylum seekers have more privacy, peace and comfort. There are also many families, who should not be put away in a sports hall. We think this shelter is just a bit more humane.’
There are 38 residential units measuring 6 by 3 meters along the edges of the site. Each unit has four beds, plus a closet, table and chairs. At the back of the fenced area are the toilet and shower cubicles. In the middle is a large pavilion tent of 40 by 20 meters, as a central meeting place. Not only is food served here, but also activities and courses take place.
Chandeliers for the atmosphere
In the tent are chairs and tables with plastic cacti and other plants. ‘No long tables and benches, then it looks like a penal camp’, explains Van den Elzen. A few chandeliers have also been hung for the atmosphere. Outside is a terrace where smoking is allowed. There are also LED lights hanging over the site – they are a bit cozier than floodlights.
‘There is a friendly atmosphere like at a campsite’, a spokesperson for Horst aan de Maas had said earlier. The municipality of Noord-Limburg did not come up with this setting itself. A delegation from Horst aan de Maas visited the East Brabant municipality of Maashorst last month, which also organized emergency shelter for asylum seekers for seven weeks in this way.
Maashorst thus seems to have set a new trend: emergency emergency shelter in small residential units around a central pavilion tent. Even State Secretary Eric van der Burg did not hide his enthusiasm when the minister for Asylum and Migration came to take a look at the Brabant municipality at the beginning of last week. “This is an example for other municipalities,” he said. In any case, people have more privacy than in a sports hall. ‘It is quiet, well-arranged, clean and tidy’, says Van der Burg. “This is really a new setup that I’m going to promote.”
Showcase Maashorst
Besides Horst, Doetinchem has also followed suit. The Achterhoek municipality even took over the residential units from Maashorst last week. Two other municipalities in Gelderland and Limburg will also organize crisis emergency relief in this way. ‘Municipalities are now also coming to us to see how we have organized it’, says location manager Van den Elzen. ‘Wednesday and Thursday we will be visited by three municipal delegations.’
Due to the reception problems surrounding the application center in Ter Apel, State Secretary Van der Burg made an urgent appeal to the 25 security regions at the end of May to temporarily accommodate 150 asylum seekers each in turn at so-called crisis emergency shelters. Due to the ongoing crisis, that number was later increased to 225 people.
It was the start of a traveling circus of asylum seekers, as the Dutch Council for Refugees calls it. For example, a group of 150 asylum seekers was first received for two weeks in an old library in Terneuzen, then for two weeks in a sports hall in Loon op Zand. The mayors of both municipalities already expressed their dissatisfaction with this ‘dragging of people’.
No hassle with people
The same group (albeit somewhat changed by dropouts and newcomers) then moved to Maashorst. “We find it undesirable and inhumane to push people like pawns over a board and to stop in a bus every two weeks to the next emergency solution in a sports hall,” said Mayor Paul Rüpp. That is why the asylum seekers’ stay in Maashorst was extended to seven weeks.
He was happy that he could offer the refugees a somewhat quieter accommodation, with more privacy. ‘Sport halls or empty libraries are not a solution,’ says Rüpp. ‘There must be more central structural reception locations. That is humane reception, not the hassle of people.’
The same group (roughly speaking) has been bivouacking since last week at the Kasteelse Bossen event site in Horst aan de Maas. According to Mayor Ryan Palmen, the asylum seekers can even stay there until the end of October. ‘Here we can receive people in a decent way’, says Palmen. ‘Don’t they have to go to a different sports hall every week. In this way we take our responsibility to help the government relieve Ter Apel.’
Forest walk against stress
‘I like the place‘, says Palestinian-Syrian asylum seeker Abed Al Rahim about the reception location in Horst. ‘The atmosphere is good, the food and the beds too.’ Previously he was in Ter Apel, Budel, Zwolle and Grubbenvorst. ‘We are also next to a forest. If you’re stressed, you can go for a walk in the woods to relax, says the thirty-something in the spacious pavilion tent, where Dutch lessons are given by a volunteer in another corner.
There is also a recreational lake with a beach nearby. ‘We did warn people about that,’ says location manager Van den Elzen. ‘Many asylum seekers cannot swim. Then such a pond can be quite dangerous. A few years ago, two Polish migrant workers drowned.’
Outside each residential unit has a planter with radishes, kale and other plants donated by a local grower. One of the asylum seekers is watering the plants with a watering can. “Nice, isn’t it,” the location manager points to the scene. ‘At the beginning of September we also organize a joint barbecue with the neighbours.’