Although Drenthe accommodates enough unaccompanied minor asylum seekers, according to King’s Commissioner Jetta Klijnsma, she asks municipalities to take an extra step after State Secretary Eric van der Burg’s emergency call. Because the registration center in Ter Apel is overrun by asylum seekers, including unaccompanied minor refugees.
Klijnsma hopes that a number of mayors will make some more phone calls and do some puzzling. Because from tomorrow Van der Burg wants 450 reception places, of which 250 for unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. From Monday he wants an additional 750 places, of which 300 for unaccompanied minors. In a letter to the municipalities, he urges them to make places available very quickly.
The need is great at the registration center for asylum seekers in Ter Apel. There are more than 350 unaccompanied minors there, while there is room for 55. And 30 to 50 more arrive every day. The minors receive 24-hour supervision and there is always guidance due to their vulnerability. They almost always have traumas.
If municipalities do not respond to Van der Burg’s call, the State Secretary threatens to place asylum seekers in reception locations and hotels at his own discretion. He wants to hear by tomorrow at the latest what the municipalities do with his appeal. Van der Burg adds that the need will remain high even after next week.
Klijnsma was present today on behalf of all provinces at the National Steering Table Migration & Integration consultation. There she heard from the State Secretary that municipalities have not yet fully reported after his emergency call. “And there are still far too many municipalities that do nothing at all. Those municipalities think: it will take my time. Ter Apel will solve it.”
At the control table, the required shelter places are normally distributed among the provinces on paper. Numbers that are not achieved in practice, because it is too non-binding. “The dispersal law is really needed to put an end to this,” says Klijnsma. This law must ensure a fair distribution of asylum seekers across the Netherlands and must put an end to all emergency reception locations where asylum seekers are currently staying.
According to Klijnsma, there is no complaining about Drenthe’s efforts. The target for this year was 104 places and the Drenthe municipalities together accommodate 119 unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. But according to Klijnsma, the distribution law is also necessary for Drenthe. “Not for coercion, but for clarity, so that every municipality knows exactly what its task is.”
The Ministry of Justice and Security, the COA and guardianship organization Nidos have been calling on municipalities for months to arrange more locations for unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. But according to the COA and guardianship organization Nidos, this has had little to no results. And the places being sought are small-scale reception locations for a vulnerable group of young people, something that municipalities generally prefer to mass locations.
State Secretary Van der Burg has been trying for some time to distribute asylum seekers more fairly among the municipalities. It is still uncertain whether his dispersal law will pass. The House of Representatives will discuss that law on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. It appears that there are enough supporters in the Chamber for the dispersal law. The VVD, Van der Burg’s party, will vote against. After approval, the bill must still be discussed in the Senate. The voting ratios there are completely different.
“If all municipalities would receive one or two additional minor asylum seekers, the problem would be solved for now,” says Klijnsma. But this group of refugees requires not only guidance, but also training. “If one municipality with a large reception location accepts more adult refugees and another municipality takes other groups, the puzzle can be solved,” Klijnsma expects.