According to the municipality of Nissewaard, which includes Spijkenisse, Afghans are allowed to stay in the Carlton Oasis Hotel for a maximum of six months. It concerns families with children who are already in the Netherlands. They were evacuated after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan.
The Afghans are placed in Spijkenisse by the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA). The municipality of Nissewaard is not happy with the way that went: “Mayor Foort van Oosten has informed COA that he regrets that the process and coordination is proceeding in this way, especially given the fact that an administrative agreement was concluded on Friday. This does not specifically refer to Afghan status holders.”
Because the status holders can leave the reception, there is room for other refugees. But there are still not enough places for them, which is why the government is also looking for emergency shelter for the asylum seekers. Wijk bij Duurstede has been accommodating a hundred refugees in a sports hall since Saturday evening. “We too must take our responsibility to give these people a dignified residence. We all know the harrowing images and stories about refugees who have to sleep outside night after night, without proper hygiene and care. That’s why we come to the rescue,” Mayor Iris Meerts said on the municipality’s website.
The municipality of Zwolle reported on Saturday that a maximum of seventy asylum seekers will be accommodated for a week in Hotel Lumen, in the stadium of PEC Zwolle. The first asylum seekers would arrive on Sunday evening.
Accommodation was found for almost five hundred people who stayed at the application center in Ter Apel in the night from Sunday to Monday. As previously announced, people could go to crisis emergency shelter locations in Zwolle and Doetinchem. In addition, people could go to crisis emergency shelters in Zuidbroek and Stadskanaal, and in Dordrecht and Haaksbergen. Some people choose to spend the night outside. Camp beds and sleeping bags have been arranged for them.
MSF: ‘terrible cold’ at night at Ter Apel
A total of 250 asylum seekers had to spend the night outside on Saturday at the application center in Ter Apel.
The asylum seekers who had to sleep outside on Saturday night at the Ter Apel application center were “terribly cold”, according to Doctors Without Borders. The aid organization sees that the lower temperature is having a “huge influence” on the living conditions of the people there.