The Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG) has criticized the cabinet decision to force municipalities to receive asylum seekers. “Compulsion is never good for public support,” says a spokesperson. “There are municipalities that receive few or no asylum seekers. Other municipalities also grumble about this that do contribute. But with this measure you disable the colleges and municipal councils. We do not want the democratic process to be broken,” said the spokesperson for the VNG.
Municipalities that refuse to receive asylum seekers because their zoning plan does not allow the allocation of reception locations can now still be forced by the cabinet. This can be done via an ‘environmental permit’ that the government grants and with which a zoning plan can be circumvented.
The shortage of reception places has become so great that the cabinet decided this week to take the lead in designating reception places itself. In a letter to the House of Representatives, State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Justice, VVD) and Minister Hugo de Jonge (Public Housing, CDA) wrote that the cabinet already has two locations in mind, where a total of 1,000 asylum seekers can be accommodated. It is not yet known which municipalities are involved.
It is special that the government is taking this measure. For the time being, the government has left the management to municipalities. But the shortage is only growing. The situation is now “barely tenable”, write Van der Burg and De Jonge.
Law comes too late
The cabinet has been working on a proposal for some time that would give municipalities a statutory reception task, but it is expected that the law will only come into effect next year – provided there is enough support for it. And that’s too late. The cabinet “is forced”, state secretary Van der Burg and minister De Jonge, write, to deploy another instrument: the spatial planning instruments.
With this measure, the cabinet can take over the licensing, so that buildings owned by the national government can be converted into a reception center – even “when there is no local administrative support”. The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) could also buy properties and then designate them as an asylum seekers centre.
The cabinet first wants to talk to municipalities. Coercion is a last resort. But the letter from State Secretary Van der Burg and Minister De Jonge also stated: “There can be no question of postponement or cancellation this time.” In other words: if the government wants a reception center in the municipality, then it will come.
A good idea, thinks Peter Rodrigues, professor of Asylum Law at Leiden University. “The European reception guidelines are under threat. The government has now designated the deficit as a national crisis. Then you have to use all the instruments. This rule gives municipalities the opportunity to ignore local objections to the national interest. This does not mean that the State will force municipalities that contribute little to be rücksichtslos.”
We can’t wait for everyone to be back from recess
Hubert Bruls Security Council
The Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG) is not happy with the new measure. “We have said: make sure there is a structural solution,” says the spokesperson. “Two years ago, municipalities came up with a plan for making the asylum chain more flexible, but nothing has happened with it yet.”
According to the VNG, municipalities are already doing a lot, and the security regions have recently created 5,000 emergency shelters. Last Monday, during a meeting of the cabinet with the Security Council, in which 25 mayors meet, the security regions were asked to provide another 5,600 reception places. The Security Council then indicated that municipalities were already reaching their limits.
For months tens, sometimes hundreds of people have been sleeping in appalling conditions at the application center in Ter Apel. The COA (Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers) is short of thousands of places to accommodate asylum seekers. This is partly due to the existing shortage of homes in the Netherlands. As a result, almost sixteen thousand status holders remain in asylum seekers’ centers because they cannot move on.
“The cabinet itself is responsible for this crisis,” says Professor Rodrigues. “When fewer asylum seekers came forward, reception centers disappeared. This is how shortages arise if there are more asylum applications. The cabinet should maintain a buffer.”
The Association of Dutch Municipalities also wants a structural solution. “Two years ago, municipalities came up with a plan for making the asylum chain more flexible, nothing has happened with it yet,” says the spokesperson.
Hubert Bruls, mayor of Nijmegen and chairman of the Security Council, showed himself impatient on Monday. “Something is happening, but no real decisions have been made yet. We can’t wait for everyone to be back from recess,” said Bruls.
Bruls could no longer be reached for comment on the cabinet’s decision to take charge itself. He is now on vacation. According to a tour, this applies to more involved administrators in various municipalities. A spokesperson for the municipality of Delft explains: “Due to the summer recess, our municipal council has not yet been able to take a position on this.”