Very strict guards, a geyser that has been broken for a month and a scuffed football field. The living situation for residents of the asylum seekers’ center in Rosmalen is not exactly something to write home about. 12-year-old Ahmed and his father, who fled Syria, say this in the NOS Jeugdjournaal. There is even talk of a prison without a lock.
Ahmed shares his room with his father and brothers and he has a hard time with that: “My bed is not comfortable. I can sleep, but not rest well.” The boy is not satisfied with the food either. “The meals we get are dirty and we have to heat meat in the microwave,” says Ahmed, who further shows that he is regularly bored. It is possible to play football, but almost all the grass has been kicked off. “And besides, there is only one goal.”
‘Cold water only’
His father is annoyed by the plumbing: “The geyser has been broken for a month, nothing is done about it and only cold water comes out.”
The Syrian is also not really comfortable for another reason: “Some employees and guards treat us very badly.” When asked why they still stay in our country, Ahmed answers that it remains dangerous in his native country due to the war that has been raging for years. Of course they are happy that they have a roof over their heads in Rosmalen, but they also want something to change in the shelter.
According to the Youth News, the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) also wants this, but it is ‘very difficult, because there are too few good places.’ As long as the war in Syria continues. Ahmed, his brothers and father are allowed to stay in the Netherlands, although they are still waiting for a residence permit.
‘frightened refugees’
The reporter of the Jeugdjournaal would have liked to speak to more refugees, but according to her, she was opposed by staff and security both inside and outside the shelter. She says the refugees have been frightened and has been advised not to talk to journalists.
Emergency facilities have been set up in various places in Brabant this year to accommodate asylum seekers. The one in Rosmalen opened in February and would accommodate up to three hundred foreigners. Until the end of this year, COA will rent this space from Libéma, owner of exhibition and event accommodations, holiday parks, amusement parks and zoos. This weekend it was announced that even more living space for refugees, but also status holders, must be provided in our province.
At the beginning of this year, Omroep Brabant was on a tour of the shelter: