On Monday evening, the security regions and the cabinet did not reach an agreement on a solution that should make the flow of asylum seekers in the Netherlands run more smoothly. They will meet again later this week to discuss the issue. That is what State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum, VVD) says. Last week he promised at a press conference that there would be a plan for the next three months and the long term this Monday.
The reason for the consultation between the mayor of the Security Council and a delegation from the cabinet is, among other things, the situation in the overcrowded application center Ter Apel in recent weeks. Asylum seekers slept for nights in Red Cross tents and on chairs, and some of them had been without food and drink for an evening and morning.
The crowds in Ter Apel have several causes. Asylum seekers should actually move on from the application center to regular asylum seekers centers within a few days, but there is often no room there. There is also a staff shortage and too few homes available, which means that beneficiaries are occupying shelter places.
Problems such as those in Ter Apel must be prevented in the future with an agreement. But in order to reach agreement, agreements must first be made about staff shortages in the asylum seekers’ centers and the full range of tasks of municipalities. Neither Van der Burg nor the Security Council wanted to promise that there will be an agreement later this week.
Refugee Work Netherlands tells ANP that it is “deeply disappointed” that no decisions have yet been made about creating more reception places for asylum seekers. “The need is very high. If proper agreements are not made soon about more reception places for asylum seekers, it will be a matter of days before we see the terrible situation in Ter Apel of recent weeks and days again.”
Also read: D66: give promising asylum seekers the opportunity to work much faster