Van der Burg is discussing this with municipalities. He does not want to elaborate on the how and what of those shelters. “At the moment we don’t see any Ukrainians reporting to us,” says the state secretary. “But as soon as that is concretely discussed, we can just start offering housing.”
‘No asylum seekers’
Van der Burg points out that Ukrainians are not asylum seekers and therefore do not have to claim regular asylum reception facilities, which are currently overcrowded. “People who come from Ukraine can – if they have a biometric passport – travel freely to the Netherlands. So they can just come here and we have plans ready to receive them.”
Under current visa rules, Ukrainians are allowed to stay in the Netherlands for a maximum of 90 days, but given the current situation, the Netherlands will simply extend that period, the minister promises.
Although the cabinet envisions scenarios for possible refugee flows, Van der Burg does not want to prejudge the numbers that we can expect in the Netherlands. “That is very difficult to say because it varies in the different scenarios. It depends on what happens in Ukraine and if people leave Ukraine, whether they stay in neighboring countries or travel on. We do not yet know what that will mean for the demand for us.” This will also have to become apparent from discussions with European partners, says Van der Burg.
‘First places arranged’
The minister is also keeping his mouth shut about the capacity of the locations that the cabinet is currently working on. “The first reception places have been arranged. And it also depends on how many numbers are involved. When it comes to very large numbers, it becomes a completely different story,” it sounds.
According to the latest UN estimates, there are now more than 100,000 people who have left their homes behind because of the Russian invasion. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense previously estimated the total number of possible refugees from Ukraine at about 3 to 5 million.