The chairmen of the Security Regions agree that something must be done quickly to relieve Ter Apel. But, said Hubert Bruls, chairman of the council: ,,This is the umpteenth time that these problems have arisen. A structural solution must be found, in which the central government can exert force on municipalities.” At the moment, this coercion could only be applied to the reception of Ukrainian refugees, because this is an acute war situation. The COA has indicated that it needs 1500 extra places before 1 April. As of 1 January next year, they will even be 10,000 places short.
The Netherlands currently receives more than 18,000 refugees from Ukraine. However, municipalities have so far created more than 29,000 places, of which about 11,000 are still available. If it is up to Bruls, those places could also possibly be used for the reception of regular refugees. “The Security Regions are not responsible for the regular flow of refugees. I really still think that is a challenge for COA.” But: ,,It is obvious not to make a distinction between who the refugee is where you can create reception places. One who seeks a place in the inn must be able to claim every place we have.” Femke Halsema, chair of the Amsterdam-Amstelland Security Region, also says that she finds it ‘very important’ that no contradiction arises.
Bearing Responsibility
A number of municipalities had previously stated that they also want to help with the reception of regular asylum seekers, including Amsterdam, Haarlemmermeer and Utrecht. The latter has realized two hundred extra crisis shelters in the former Holland Casino building, where asylum seekers already arrived on Monday evening. However, this is only a temporary solution.
State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum and Migration) said prior to the meeting “I’m talking blisters on my tongue to show Security regions what responsibility they have to bear”. In the end, however, that turned out not to be necessary. “I noticed enormous commitment to Ter Apel with almost all chairmen.” However, he does notice that it is a lot easier to find places for Ukrainians than for non-Ukrainians. “You see that a lot of Dutch people say: we think that reception should take place in the region. And Ukraine is our region.”