COA boss Milo Schoenmaker is hopeful that there will be fewer than 2,000 asylum seekers in Ter Apel tomorrow. But whether this will remain the case is highly uncertain.
1980, that’s how many residents there are at the registration center in Ter Apel after the deadline of the court in Groningen has passed. At least that is what Milo Schoenmaker of the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers hopes. “We will most likely be able to comply with the ruling tomorrow morning,” says Schoenmaker.
The court ordered COA to adhere to the agreements with Westerwolde not to have more than 2,000 residents at the registration center, on penalty of a fine of 15,000 euros per day.
Most likely, because the COA has no control over how many people come to Ter Apel. A few dozen more asylum seekers and the reception organization already has too many people.
Ter Apelers to Biddinghuizen
In recent days, the number of residents has fluctuated around 2,200. Now there is breathing space by using an emergency location in Biddinghuizen. This has already been scaled down because the location must be closed by April. The vacant beds there will still be refilled. At other shelters, attempts are being made to extend existing contracts.
The breathing space is very limited, Schoenmaker realizes. The fact that COA can adhere to the agreements may only be for a week, perhaps not even. It remains a puzzle to find more places in the country. An appeal from him to the provinces has not yet led to new places.
Many new locations, but temporary
The asylum chain is packed, Schoenmaker outlines. In recent years, more and more emergency shelters have been built, which are often small and temporary. While COA accommodated people in 60 places in 2021, this is now in around 250 places.
But many of those places cease to exist. Particularly due to an increased influx, COA estimates that it will need approximately 5,500 new places by April. More places will be needed later in the year. We don’t know where those places come from.
As long as the pressure is so high on Ter Apel, there is no room to further expand the process availability location (PBL). Asylum seekers with a disadvantaged application are guided through the procedure more quickly. They cause the most nuisance in the village.
“We would grow from 30 places in the summer to 100 in January. Due to the enormous pressure in Ter Apel, we are not able to do that,” says Schoenmaker.
Doesn’t depend on COA
The COA ‘works very hard’ to provide good shelter, but that is a real puzzle, says Schoenmaker. He does not think that it is the COA’s fault, there are simply no more places to relieve Ter Apel. Groningen, Drenthe, Friesland and Flevoland currently meet the requirements of the Spreading Act, which will come into effect after a while. Schoenmaker has sent a letter to the other provinces to quickly help with additional places.
“We have to be able to drive them somewhere. We can put them on a bus and take them on a tour of the Netherlands, but they will return to Ter Apel without a place.”
‘We are frustrated too’
Schoenmaker does not want to violate agreements with other municipalities. The fact that this does happen in Ter Apel has to do with the arrival of asylum seekers at the registration center. The organization has no control over this. “In other municipalities we can decide how many people go there and not here. They come here independently.”
Bottom line, without help from other municipalities, the maximum occupancy in Ter Apel will probably be exceeded again. A real solution has not yet presented itself. “People are frustrated with us, we are just as frustrated. We do our utmost.”