Refugees in emergency shelter in sports hall De Wetering in Loon op Zand complain that they are no longer allowed to go outside after ten o’clock in the evening. The house rules state that it must be quiet in the dormitory after ten o’clock. The refugees were only allowed to go to the toilet for a while. The municipality thinks that security is taking the tasks too diligently and is going to do something about it.
On Thursday morning there are a few men outside De Wetering talking in the sun. Loon op Zand is not their first residence address. They have had quite a few in the Netherlands. Now they are waiting for two weeks in the village center of Loon Op Zand until they can go to the application center in Ter Apel. With 150 refugees, adults and children, they sleep in the sports hall.
“I have post-traumatic stress.”
In all other places where they were taken care of, they could come and go as they pleased. They have the feeling that the curfew is very strict in De Wetering.
“I have post-traumatic stress,” says a 46-year-old man from Lebanon in good English. “I can’t sleep very well and then I want to go outside and get some fresh air. But I was just stopped by a security guard. He pushed me back with a wave of his hand. In Terneuzen, where we come from, I could have a beer somewhere in the evening.”
Another refugee sleeps in the room with his wife and three children. When the children are asleep, he does want to go outside for a while. “Going out wasn’t a problem anywhere, so why here?” The others nod in agreement.
One of the refugees also says that everything else is well organized in Loon op Zand. The food is good and the people are nice. But going outside after ten would be very nice.
“We’re going to do something about it”
“We want to receive people in a warm and dignified manner,” the mayor’s spokesperson said emphatically. “And that doesn’t mean we lock them up from ten o’clock in the evening to nine o’clock in the morning. It is a pity that they first walk to Omroep Brabant and then to us. We’re going to do something about it.”
The municipality confirms that you cannot lock people up at all. “In fact, they are free to come and go as they please. They can leave the site to the Efteling or Slagharen, they officially don’t even have to sleep here if they have a better place,” the spokesperson said.
In two weeks, the refugees will go to another emergency shelter, until they can go to Ter Apel.