There are no asylum seekers on the grounds of the Zorgboog in Bakel. Initially, the COA wanted to house 300 asylum seekers on the site. The Board did not agree with this and proposed to accommodate 150 asylum seekers for a period of two years on the grounds of the Zorgboog. But the city council did not agree with that plan on Tuesday evening.
The request from the COA, the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers, to receive asylum seekers caused a lot of commotion in the village of Bakel. 450 residents came to the first walk-in evening. Geert Wilders of the PVV also showed up. Later he came to Bakel for a second time for a hearing.
Many inhabitants of Bakel had problems with the amount of asylum seekers that would come. Many people also thought the location, a site where people with a brain disorder also live and where a hospice is located, was not suitable. The municipality proposed making a limited part of the site available.
“This topic is a tough task for politicians.”
The majority of the city council indicated on Tuesday evening that they would like to receive asylum seekers, but not 150 and not on the grounds of the Zorgboog. The mayor has now been instructed to find a suitable location for the reception of about 70 asylum seekers.
Many council members struggled a lot with the decision about the reception of asylum seekers in Bakel. “This subject is a very difficult task for local politicians,” said Stefan Janszen, leader of the CDA, the largest party in the council. But most parties also think 150 asylum seekers are too many, they think the number does not fit the village. The location is also not suitable because vulnerable people live there.
“There will always be someone who doesn’t like a location. There will always be opponents.”
The city council does want to take responsibility for receiving asylum seekers. “We want a suitable solution for this social and humanitarian problem,” says Janszen. “The dragging of asylum seekers from sports hall to sports hall must stop and we want to contribute to this.”
Many political parties also want to start from the new distribution law that is being prepared. “If all municipalities do what they have to do, we don’t have to receive so many asylum seekers at all,” says Anne van Berlo of the VVD. She thinks that two small locations in the municipality could be a solution.
Mayor Michiel van Veen warned the council about a search for a new location. “I predict that people will also call us at a new location. Then we have to go through this process again. There will always be someone who does not find the location suitable. There will always be opponents.”
READ ALSO: COA explains why a small asylum seekers’ center is so difficult