The number of asylum seekers for whom there is no place on Thursday evening in the overcrowded application center Ter Apel has grown. At first there were about fifty, but now there are about a hundred. Among them are many small children.
The asylum seekers will be transferred to emergency emergency shelters in the Eurohal in Zuidbroek, the COA reports. “There is room at the COA location in Ter Apel for people who cannot go to Zuidbroek. It is expected that asylum seekers who still arrive on Thursday evening and in the night from Thursday to Friday can also be accommodated at the COA location in Ter Apel. be,” the organization said. The bus, arranged by the Groningen security region, will first transfer eighty people to Zuidbroek and return later on Thursday evening to pick up another twenty people.
On Wednesday evening, about a hundred emergency shelters were created for asylum seekers because Ter Apel was full. They were then taken to Heerenveen with transport arranged by the Red Cross.
A spokeswoman for the COA stated earlier Thursday that very hard work is being done to get everyone in the right place and that there is good guidance for the people. She agrees that there is a structural shortage of reception places: “We are doing what we can, we have been doing that for 2.5 years and we have been reporting this for a long time. It is best if places are added structurally.” But COA has no powers to designate or organize these. “We’re not about that, that’s up to the ministry.”
On average, about two hundred people a day arrive in Ter Apel, and about a hundred on weekend days. Mondays and Tuesdays are the busiest days. The people seeking asylum mainly come from Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen and Turkey, the spokeswoman said.