The crisis emergency shelter in hotel Wapen van Vries has been extended by six months. Catering entrepreneur Raymond Vijfschaft has been the new operator since last week.
The previous owners got into a conflict with owner De Boer. That is why, after some negotiation, Vijfschaft became the new operator last Friday. “The De Boer family approached me,” says Vijfschaft. “After that I had contact with the INLIA foundation (responsible for crisis emergency shelter, ed.) and it was decided in good consultation to extend the shelter by six months.”
Asylum seekers will therefore remain in Hotel Wapen van Vries until October 1 of this year. Mayor Marcel Thijsen of the municipality of Tynaarlo is happy with it. “We don’t want to send anyone back to Ter Apel.”
The municipality is still working on a new location for crisis emergency shelter, he says. “We hope to be able to provide more clarity about this within eight weeks.”
There have been 38 refugees in the Wapen van Vries since October last year, mainly from Syria. Brand new owner Vijfschaft spent a lot of time in the hotel last weekend to get to know his guests. “It’s fundamentally different from running a normal hotel,” he concludes. “First of all, they are not here for a good reason. In addition, they help in the hotel and they neatly return their plates to the kitchen.”
Vijfschaft says it has a ‘living room idea’. “The first days have certainly gone well.” Ultimately, the intention is that the Wapen van Vries will become a hotel-restaurant again. “But we will only look seriously at that when the crisis emergency shelter comes to an end.”
John van Tilborg of the INLIA foundation calls it ‘very nice’ for the asylum seekers that the reception will continue. “We all know the images of Ter Apel and now we are heading in that direction again,” he warns. “We don’t want a summer like last year, with so many people sleeping outside. Such shelters are badly needed for that.”
After a short week, Van Tilborg is very pleased with the new operator. “As things are going now, things are going very well.”
But with only the shelter in the Wapen van Vries, the municipality of Tynaarlo is not there yet. A new location is being looked at and the churches in the municipality will also receive refugees again. “We have good contact with the churches,” says Van Tilborg. He sees how the churches are playing their part in the refugee crisis.
Mayor Thijsen also sees this. “We will therefore tolerate the reception in the churches, because according to the destination it is not allowed. But everything is better than going back to Ter Apel.”