The situation for asylum seekers in the application center at Ter Apel is “still distressing”. According to the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ), people sit close together in a “cold, drafty and dirty sports hall”. This leads to risks to public health.
Certainly for the most vulnerable – such as babies, young children, the elderly and sick people – the situation is “dire”, according to the IGJ. The risks are also increased because asylum seekers are often moved between crisis emergency reception locations.
The Inspectorate believes that VVD State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum) and the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) should do “everything necessary” to improve the conditions for people in the application centre. This is necessary, the inspectorate writes after visiting the forecourt, the sports hall and the night shelter in Ter Apel last week.
The IGJ also looked at the location in Zoutkamp, where refugees are accommodated if they cannot yet start the procedure in the application center. According to the Inspectorate, this emergency shelter is at an adequate level, but the conditions in Ter Apel can have a “negative influence on people’s mental and physical health”.
The COA responds to the ANP news agency that the pressure on the reception in Ter Apel has been enormous for a long time, making it “unfortunately not possible to offer reception of the level that the COA normally stands for”. The spokesperson says that everyone agrees that adequate shelter is needed. “We are doing what we can under the current circumstances.”