Brabant has an increasing number of homeless people and as a result the reception centers can hardly meet the demand for help. This is apparent from a survey by Omroep Brabant at various municipalities. “The pressure is very high and it will only get higher.”
One of the places that is seeing the number of homeless people rise is the municipality of Breda. “We are clearly seeing more people who receive guidance and help because they are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless,” says a spokesperson for the municipality.
This increase is largely due to labor migrants from Eastern Europe. They come to the Netherlands to work, but if they lose their job they end up on the street. “We are therefore working in Breda with an organization such as Barka. This is a foundation that tries to help homeless people and labor migrants from Eastern Europe find work again. That foundation is also busier than in recent years.”
Eindhoven is now experiencing a lot of nuisance due to the increasing number of homeless labor migrants. They make noise, defecate in the street and even sleep on residents’ balconies. “We see that groups of homeless people often come across as intimidating,” says Geesje Liebregts of the Springplank relief organization. “Someone alone with a beer on the street is often not such a problem, but that changes when it becomes four or five people together.”
But how do those migrant workers become homeless? “They often come here with a home-work contract,” says Liebregts. “If they lose their jobs and their home, they don’t go back to Eastern Europe, because sometimes the conditions there are apparently even worse.”
“The pressure just keeps getting higher.”
In Southwest Brabant, municipalities such as Bergen op Zoom, Roosendaal, Halderberge and Woensdrecht work together in the field of homeless shelter. They see a specific increase in the number of migrant workers who end up on the streets, but there are still concerns.
A spokesperson for the municipality of Bergen op Zoom. “We see that the reception places in the collaborating municipalities are one hundred percent full and the pressure is only increasing. That is why solutions are desperately needed.”
“It is difficult for homeless people to knock on the right counter.”
But what is the solution then? A spokesperson for the municipality of Tilburg thinks it should become clearer where you can get help. “For many homeless people it is not only difficult to find a house, but also the right counter where they can knock for help.”
However, better findability does not guarantee better prospects. Extra money is also urgently needed for this, according to the municipality of Tilburg. “We have given homeless shelter Traverse 1.3 million extra to arrange extra shelter, especially for families to take the pressure off the shelter.”
With this, the spokesperson immediately touches on a sensitive point, because families are also increasingly becoming homeless. “They end up on the street, for example, because of a divorce. People separate, but then can’t find or pay for a new home.”
Care organization NEOS in Eindhoven guides families who have ended up on the street. “We also see it becoming more.” However, according to a spokesperson, it is not easy to say what the cause is. “That remains largely guessing for us.”