Tents at Ter Apel registration center are being demolished

The tents in which asylum seekers are received on arrival at the application center in Ter Apel are disappearing. Asylum seekers last slept in the pavilions during the night from Monday to Tuesday. The permit for the use of the tents expires on Tuesday.

The large tents will be dismantled from Tuesday. That will take a few days. From Tuesday, no more than 2000 people are allowed to stay in the application center in Ter Apel. State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum and Migration) reported before the weekend that he has agreed this with the mayors of Groningen and Westerwolde, which includes Ter Apel.

Van der Burg also indicated that he would consult with municipalities to ensure that people can go elsewhere. A spokesperson for the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) said on Monday evening that a solution was being worked hard, but that it was not yet clear how it would proceed.

It has been busy in Ter Apel lately, so that more people stayed than the 2000 for whom there is officially room. The Groningen Security Region called the situation at the registration center worrisome at the end of March. Asylum seekers cannot move on to one of the 111 asylum seekers’ centers. They are full, partly because about 13,000 status holders are waiting for a home.