In the application center for asylum seekers in Ter Apel, people have to sleep on a chair again in the night from Sunday to Monday. There is not enough capacity due to the crowds. A spokesperson for the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) could not say exactly how many people were involved.
It is also possible that more people will be added to the registration center tonight. There will therefore be no sleeping place for them, according to the spokesperson.
It is certainly not the first time that people in Ter Apel have had to sleep on a chair. The application centre, which has room for two thousand people, has been struggling with large crowds for some time because the flow of permit holders from reception locations to homes has stagnated.
A spokesperson for the COA informed NU.nl on Thursday that although the first extra reception places are ready, it could not be ruled out that there would again be no sleeping places for asylum seekers due to the crowds.
To relieve the pressure on Ter Apel, security regions are setting up 150 extra places per region. In the coming period, four other regions must jointly have 600 places available. Friesland and Groningen are now doing this in sports halls in Heerenveen, Finsterwolde and Leek. Zeeland has made the former library of Terneuzen available. As far as is known, Amsterdam-Amstelland does not yet have a location. The reception is not yet enough to provide all asylum seekers with a place to sleep.
In the meantime, work is also being done on mega locations that should each be able to accommodate at least a thousand people.