Waalre offers accelerated reception to 164 asylum seekers, including many families with children, mayor Jan Boelhouwer reports. The group was actually supposed to stay in Waalre from Wednesday, but to relieve the pressure on the application center in Ter Apel, the people were transferred a day earlier.
“The application center in Ter Apel is overflowing and there is an absolute crisis situation. Because we receive asylum seekers an evening earlier, there is more room in Ter Apel to receive other asylum seekers,” the municipality of Waalre wrote in a statement on Tuesday evening.
“As you will understand, we had to switch immediately, but in times of crisis this is unfortunately unavoidable”, mayor Jan Boelhouwer writes to local residents. “We are doing everything we can to ensure that the evening runs smoothly and we sincerely hope for your understanding.”
The group of 164 people is accommodated in two sports halls. A spokesperson for the COA expected on Tuesday evening that it would probably be possible to accommodate everyone who reports in Ter Apel for the night from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Crisis emergency shelters have also been set up in Stadskanaal and Zuidbroek. It was still unclear whether people would again have to sleep on chairs in Ter Apel. Despite the extra reception, at least a hundred people were still waiting at the gate of the application center on Tuesday evening.
A number of awnings were placed at the application center on Tuesday. This was done to protect people who are waiting in front of the registration center from the sun and other weather conditions, according to the COA spokesperson.