The Public Prosecution Service is not conducting a criminal investigation into the death of the three-month-old baby at the registration center in Ter Apel. The Public Prosecution Service has no indication that the death last Wednesday was the result of a criminal offense.
The Public Prosecution Service concludes this on the basis of the investigation by the forensic investigation and the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI). Witnesses were also heard, the Public Prosecution Service said on Friday. The prosecutor has released the body.
The Public Prosecution Service had instructed the NFI to investigate the cause of death. “At the moment, that investigation has not led to a determination of the cause of death of the baby. In addition, other investigations have not led to the suspicion of any criminal offense,” the Public Prosecution Service said in a press release on Friday.
In the case of the death of children up to the age of 1 year, the NFI carries out standard investigations into the cause of death. The result of this will take about six to nine months, so that there is no definitive verdict yet. The reason that the Public Prosecution Service announces the preliminary judgment “is the great social unrest surrounding this tragic event in the application center in Ter Apel”.
Last Wednesday, the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) announced that a baby had died overnight in the sports hall at the registration center for asylum seekers. The sports hall serves as an emergency shelter.
The Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ) and the Justice and Security Inspectorate are conducting further investigations into all aspects that may have played a role in the death. According to the IGJ, this includes looking at the available care and the living conditions around the application center and in the sports hall. It is also checked whether there is a medical cause and whether care has been provided previously. That investigation is not criminal in nature.