In his New Year’s speech, Mayor Jaap Velema of Westerwolde thanked his Groningen colleagues for their support in the battle for better asylum reception in Ter Apel
In the same speech he also lashed out at The Hague. The politicians there are currently leaving Ter Apel to his fate, he said.
Letter to ministry
The aforementioned support from the Groningen mayors and King’s Commissioner René Paas came this week in the form of a joint letter to the Ministry of Justice and Security. In it, politicians in The Hague, provinces and many municipalities are accused of unwillingness to solve the asylum problem.
A problem that means that the asylum center in Ter Apel often houses more than the agreed 2,000 people. To reduce the pressure on Ter Apel, Groningen municipalities are making more emergency shelters available than may be expected of them based on national agreements.
Summary proceedings
In order to hold the COA to the agreements regarding the maximum number of 2,000, Westerwolde has filed summary proceedings against that organization, which will be filed on Wednesday. In the letter, the mayors and the commissioner say they fully understand this step to court. “I am grateful to them for this support, they make it clear that we are not alone,” Velema said. He also thanked other organizations and municipalities elsewhere that did make asylum reception places available.
Velema gave his speech in the De Meet building in Bellingwolde where Westerwolde had its traditional New Year’s meeting. The asylum issue was of course a common thread in his speech, as was the case in previous years. The reception problem in Ter Apel has been dragging on for so long.