On a quay in Velsen-Noord is a cruise ship that should not be luxurious. Not anymore, at least. There are elements that remind us of a past life of opulence. The gold-coloured banisters, for example, the royal blue carpet or the advertising posters for perfume. Buy Coco Mademoiselle, says Chanel figurehead Keira Knightley in a shiny passage where credit cards were once flaunted, but now all the shutters are closed. You can no longer buy anything on this cruise ship. The shops and the moonlight disco are closed, as are the swimming pool and the better restaurants.
The MS Silja Europa, one of the largest cruise ferries (ferries with the luxury of a cruise ship) in the world, transported tourists across the Baltic Sea for almost thirty years, the last ten years under the Estonian flag. The ship is now moored at the quay of an industrial estate in Velsen-Noord. From this week on, it must be inhabited by a thousand asylum seekers for a period of six months. That is, if the judge does not prohibit their arrival at two o’clock on Monday afternoon in a case brought by local entrepreneurs.
The asylum seekers, unlike the tourists who preceded them on the ship, will not look out over wild seas or handsome quays. If they look to the right, there is a company that processes waste from oil and gas drilling. Straight ahead they see the port of IJmuiden with its cranes and windmills. There is a play area on board for their children, it is not possible to play outside on the quay. If they want to run an errand, they have to take a shuttle bus to Beverwijk. In the immediate vicinity are only companies and industry.
Paradox of asylum policy
You could call the cruise ship the driving paradox of Dutch asylum reception policy. Because Milo Schoenmaker, boss of the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA), is honest: it is expensive to rent such a monster. More expensive than emergency shelters in sports halls and other buildings. And emergency care is again more expensive than regular care in asylum seekers’ centres, because many new investments have to be made for a short period of time. This is the toll of an asylum policy characterized by short-term thinking, by an unwillingness or inability to arrive at a structural solution.
At the same time, this relatively expensive care must be frugal. The Netherlands offers asylum seekers a roof, a bed and a meal. There isn’t much left in a gym or converted office building, but it stands out on a cruiseferry. Everything that can be fun is closed. And yes, public opinion plays a role in this, agrees the location manager. Critics should not get the idea that asylum seekers are being feted here. That would also not be fair to their fellow sufferers elsewhere in the shelter.
In an asylum system that is linked by emergency bandages, it comes down to drivers who dare to say ‘yes’ to a boat with a thousand foreigners. Amsterdam decided three weeks ago, Mayor Frank Dales (D66) of the municipality of Velsen already in the summer. There was resistance from the environment, he acknowledges, as is also apparent from the case brought by entrepreneurs. Dales tried to remove the greatest resistance by negotiating well with the Empire. The location will have its own enforcers and its own GP, so that there is no extra pressure on care. The municipality will also have more police capacity and the shuttle service that must bring asylum seekers to civilization is also free for the residents of Velsen.
A big breath of air
The municipality is visibly delighted, and so is COA. Adding a thousand beds in one go is a big breath of air in a time when there is endless talk about sometimes only dozens of places. Yet this boat will also be full again in a week, COA director Schoenmaker expects.
So the question remains whether this is something to celebrate, or whether it is also a defeat, the need to get a cruiseferry from abroad and house a thousand asylum seekers in a remote industrial area because the asylum system is so stuck. ‘I think it’s a symbol of Dutch ingenuity’, says Schoenmaker.