There was a fight at the application center for asylum seekers in Ter Apel around 5.15 pm this afternoon. Dozens of people were involved.
At least ten police cars and four ambulances were present at the asylum seekers’ center. The air ambulance also arrived at the scene. According to a photographer at the scene, both police and paramedics were wearing bulletproof vests.
The fight took place outside the gates of the application center. More than 100 people were there at the time, police said. Within that group, the fight between the dozens of people then started.
The police could not say whether those people were standing outside the fence because they could no longer get in. The situation has now calmed down and the police have left the registration center again. However, the police remain vigilant.
According to a spokesperson for the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA), there is a “very present” chance that residents of the reception locations were involved in the fight. “We don’t know that for sure yet. But the residents often have contact with the people waiting outside, chat with them or help them.”
Residents within the reception center were not affected by the fight and it is now quiet again in front of the main entrance of the application center, according to the spokeswoman.
It has been systematically too busy in the reception center in Ter Apel for some time, so that sometimes people also have to sleep in the open air.