From October 15, 160 asylum seekers will be accommodated in the Van der Valk Hotel Volendam. Among them, there are 40 minors. Practice shows that these will mainly be single men and boys. Last night there was a well-attended public meeting in the town hall of Waterland in Monnickendam, which was mainly attended by concerned Volendam residents. The mayor and people from the COA (Central Reception of Asylum Seekers) tried to answer the concerns and questions.
It was a difficult evening for mayor Marian van der Weele. After she and members of the COA had explained how the reception is arranged, those present were allowed to ask questions. All questions were about safety, or the lack of safety and that there had to be guarantees that things would go well.
To which the mayor replied almost desperately: “I can’t give you any guarantees and I can’t guarantee that nothing will ever happen. But I can promise you that if something happens that is unacceptable, we will intervene quickly.”
“We’re getting this shoved down our throats”
That someone from the police said that the reception of 450 refugees in a tent near Purmerend had gone almost without incident was hardly believed. “We get this shoved down our throats,” said one man, “incidents are kept under wraps” and another spoke of “thrown on our necks.”
The fact that boys between the ages of 15 and 18 only have a duty to report is regarded as completely insufficient. “If my son doesn’t come home at night, I’ll deal with him. But these boys don’t have a parent to correct them,” says one mother.
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Grim atmosphere
It was all evening talking against a wall of fear, misunderstanding and distrust. “There must be more officers, otherwise we will not accept it,” someone said, to which the mayor resolutely replied that they will certainly not come. The atmosphere became grim at one point when a woman started talking about the “beautiful daughters from Volendam who would be harassed by black boys.” The mayor threatened to stop the meeting. “That you say that girls are subjected to something based on color, I have great difficulty with that. That is discrimination.”
Meeting in Volendam
The COA and the mayor promised to sit around the table with concerned residents every two weeks to see how things are going. “And if that has to be done more often, that is also possible.” Because the hotel is not located in Volendam, there will also be a consultation especially for Volendam residents. Mayor Lieke Sievers of Edam-Volendam promised that next week there will be a meeting in her municipality about this shelter. There will also be a meeting with the hospitality industry in Volendam, so that they know how to deal with the young refugees in the future.
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