The emergency reception location for asylum seekers in Loosdrecht can remain in use in the coming months. A group of four residents wanted to immediately stop the reception in the village through the administrative judge in Utrecht, but the administrative judge Central Netherlands has ruled that the municipality of Wijdemeren can ignore their enforcement request because there are “special circumstances to refrain from enforcement”.
Local residents argue that the emergency shelter is illegal because there is no environmental permit. The shelter currently accommodates 39 people, with a total of seventy asylum seekers. “The council may give priority to the importance of temporary emergency shelter (until November 1, 2026) for seventy asylum seekers with guarantees over the interests of local residents, given the shortages in asylum shelter,” said the judge.
During the hearing, the municipality and COA repeatedly pointed out the humanitarian and social importance of the shelter. They referred to the situation in Ter Apel, where asylum seekers slept outside again on the night of Wednesday to Thursday. The municipality of Wijdemeren, which includes Loosdrecht, has not yet received a single asylum seeker. According to the distribution law, there should be 143.
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Moreover, an environmental permit has now been applied for and the municipality sees no reason to assume that it will not be granted. Emergency shelter locations are “more often done this way”, said the COA lawyer.
Raids
Residents are concerned for their safety due to the number of single men who will be staying at the location. “I can’t sleep,” said one woman emotionally. But they are not against any form of asylum reception in Loosdrecht, she emphasized. The residents are mainly opposed to the speed with which this shelter was announced.
On April 13, COA asked the municipality to open an emergency shelter in the partly vacant town hall. On April 17, a letter arrived in the mail to local residents announcing the shelter. From April 22, 110 refugees would be accommodated.
Fierce protests broke out and the riot police had to be deployed several times. The town hall was destroyed and last week – on the first day that asylum seekers were received – rioters set a fire at the shelter and held up the fire brigade. The residents’ lawyer said that the unrest in Loosdrecht is now so great that it is irresponsible to continue with the shelter. According to the residents in the case, no disturbances would have occurred if more time had been taken for shelter.
Prior to the case, the Loosdrecht branch of the far-right action group Defend Netherlands had called on followers via social media to come to the trial. “Your presence makes the difference,” read the AI-generated image the group shared.
But after protests from residents involved in the case, the group decided not to do so. “We consciously choose the legal route, which fits within a democracy,” one of the plaintiffs said earlier this week. Noordhollands Dagblad. “We distance ourselves from violence.”
With the cooperation of Bart Hinke
