The COA does not comply with the judge’s ruling on the maximum number of unaccompanied minor aliens (UAMs) in Ter Apel. State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum) said in a debate in the House of Representatives that he wants to remove the unaccompanied minors as much as possible, but that it is practically impossible to do. He was more optimistic about the new law for the distribution of asylum seekers, which the House will receive this week.
“The day after tomorrow there will be more than 55 people in Ter Apel who are unaccompanied minors. And that is not complying with the judge’s ruling. Will the Secretary of State do his best to bring that down as quickly as possible? Yes, absolutely, because there is a ruling from the judge,” says Van der Burg. He said he “completely agrees” with the judge that this group of young people should move on to a better shelter in the country as soon as possible.
Van der Burg also acknowledged that his new law to disperse asylum seekers across the country is “just too late”, as it should have been in place by October 1. He hopes that eventually it will be arranged that there will be “an iron stock of an x number of places” in the Netherlands. If these are not needed at times with a lower intake, the places can be used for something else or possibly even be left empty.
The State Secretary called it “completely logical” that the Council for Refugees went to court to denounce the living conditions in the asylum reception. He emphasized that he agrees with the judge on many points, but that he decided to continue litigating because the judge believes that steps should be taken ‘immediately’. “Then this boy will at least read it as: now, today immediately. And to that I say, that is not realistic on some elements.”
The court previously ruled that Van der Burg had to improve the reception on a number of points because it did not meet the requirements in terms of humanity. Some of the measures had to be implemented immediately, others took more time. Van der Burg appealed and also tried to force the judge’s ruling to be suspended in the meantime. That attempt failed, so he must immediately try to comply with the first court decision. The appeal is scheduled for November 10.