A spokesperson for the COA expects that there will be ‘a lot of outflow’ from the application center on Sunday. Accommodation has been found elsewhere for both people from the center and people who have slept outside. For example, a reception center is opening in Doetinchem that can accommodate a total of 225 refugees. The spokesperson cannot yet estimate how many people will remain on the lawn.
The only application center in the Netherlands, which can accommodate 2,000 asylum seekers, has been under enormous pressure for months. Last week, about 700 people slept on the lawn between the registration center and the adjacent provincial road for three nights in a row. For the first time in its history, Doctors Without Borders was forced to take action in the Netherlands. On Saturday, the international aid organization treated 44 people.
After the Health and Youth Inspectorate warned on Friday evening that the asylum seekers were at great risk of infectious diseases due to a lack of hygiene, almost 400 people were rushed to other locations by bus. Some of them returned to Ter Apel a day later.
Measures to reduce pressure on Ter Apel
In an attempt to relieve Ter Apel, the cabinet presented a series of measures on Friday. For example, the cabinet is making millions of euros available to build additional emergency shelters and flexible housing for status holders. Due to the housing shortage, status holders are currently staying longer in asylum seekers’ centers, causing the asylum chain to come to a standstill.
In addition, the cabinet wants to tighten up the rules for family members: until the end of 2023, family reunification would only be possible for beneficiaries who have a home. According to Unicef Netherlands, however, this conflicts with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and national and international legislation. “Children have the right to be reunited with their parents soon,” the aid organization said in a statement.
The issue gained urgency on Saturday when the Newspaper of the North and NRC reported that more than six times as many unaccompanied minor asylum seekers reside in Ter Apel as permitted. It would concern about 350 children, of whom fifty slept on chairs in the waiting area of the Immigration Service IND. Last year, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, a total of 2,150 child refugees without parents came to the Netherlands.
Moreover, the supervision of the children in Ter Apel is inadequate. UNICEF writes that it receives ‘worrying signals about their physical and mental health and safety’. Normally, the minors would move on to special reception places for young people a few days after their asylum application, but those locations currently have no place.