Angry emails, walk-in evenings with concerned residents, banners with threatening texts and even arson. Opposition to the arrival of asylum seekers was strong in many municipalities in Brabant last summer. But once the (emergency) shelter is open, the sentiment often changes in a positive sense, according to documents in the hands of Omroep Brabant.
Omroep Brabant viewed conversation reports, minutes and WhatsApp conversations of all Brabant municipalities. They give a good picture of how municipalities will deal with the assignment to receive asylum seekers from Ter Apel in the summer of 2022. The inhabitants often fell on the roof, but in most cases the sentiment quickly turned after the arrival of the asylum seekers.
Flags and arson
For example in Deurne. That’s where sports hall De Kubus came into the picture in the summer of last year for an emergency shelter for 225 asylum seekers. This resulted in a lot of resistance, protest flags were also hung. For example, you can read in a WhatsApp conversation between officials: “After some annoying and intimidating incidents yesterday, the last flags were removed this morning”, it says.
But it didn’t stop with the flags. Later, a fire was set at the sports hall. Two suspects have now been arrested for this. At the time of the arrest, according to the police, it was still unclear whether the possible reception of refugees was the motive for the arson.
Play together
In the WhatsApp conversation you can read how the sentiment changed completely once the asylum seekers arrived in the sports hall. A round in the neighborhood yields ‘no annoying reactions at all’, someone writes. “The most beautiful thing: children immediately started playing with each other,” says one of the officials. They also receive messages from people who want to give hugs and other items to the children in the shelter.
“Are they sleeping outside again?”
It is also initially restless in Moerdijk. Last summer, alderman Pauline Joosten was threatened via Facebook because of the arrival of asylum seekers. Later that summer, tensions rise even higher and there are threats of arson.
But also in Moerdijk, the atmosphere changed largely after the arrival of the asylum seekers and everything went ‘very well and peacefully’, according to a tour of the municipality in the vicinity of the shelter. After the asylum seekers have left, some residents are even worried: “Are they sleeping outside again?”
Skeptical at first, now daily chat
In the municipality of Heeze-Leende, 100 asylum seekers were accommodated in the Pompenmaker sports hall. This caused a lot of unrest in the village. For example, banners were hung with texts such as ‘Better cows in the meadow than one more asylum seeker’. Reactions on social media were also mixed.
But once the refugees arrived, a lot of actions were set up by all kinds of volunteers. For example, De Oude Ambachten, a vehicle construction group for the Brabant Day in Heeze, organized a tour. A number of asylum seekers then offered to help sew large pieces of fabric for the group’s car.
The crisis team of the municipality of Heeze-Leende summarizes it as follows: “It is nice to see that the local residents who were skeptical at first, now even come to have a chat every day.”
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