Berlicum will most likely receive an asylum seekers center (AZC). The municipality announced this on Monday afternoon. Three hundred refugees and status holders should be given a place in a pasture on the Runweg for a maximum of ten years. But the neighborhood is strong against it.
Those who enter Berlicum via the Runweg cannot ignore it. They don’t want an asylum seekers center here. That is on stickers, banners and plates along the road. In the pasture where the AZC is to come, there is ‘no to azc’ on a large letters container. Although the decision is not yet final, according to the mayor, the intended location has already been announced. About three hundred men, women and families should come here. But the neighborhood does not agree at all.
Chantal Verhagen of action group ‘No AZC in Berlicum’ explains: “We think the number of three hundred asylum seekers is far too much for a small village like Berlicum. We are afraid of safety and have too few facilities here. Moreover, nothing has been discussed with the local residents. The municipality has done everything in the village. We are angry.”
Since the rumor went that there might be an asylum seekers center here, two action groups were established. “No AZC in Berlicum” and “Nature says no to AZC.”
Saskia Frunt is part of the last group. She lives right opposite the pasture and therefore gets a lot of new neighbors. And she is not happy with that. Moreover, she is afraid of damage to nature. “The chosen place is on a protected nature reserve. It is a unique location where many animals like to live and cycle. That is why it is unsuitable for an AZC. Almost the entire village is disappointing. A petition against the arrival of the AZC has been signed almost three thousand times.”
The municipality has announced the intended location in the hope of removing rumors and uncertainty from the residents. But whether that was successful is the question. The local residents resist and want the asylum seekers to be spread over several locations. “If they would spread those people over Berlicum and the other cores of the municipality of Sint-Michielsgestel, then it’s fine. If we take care of twenty or thirty people here, they can be admitted to the community,” says Verhagen.
The municipality has planned a meeting for the local residents on Wednesday. But they are already organizing a major protest action on Thursday. “We will all go to the town hall. We will make our voice heard and hope that the municipality will listen.”