The first asylum seekers have arrived at the emergency shelter next to the asylum seekers’ center in Almere Stad. According to a spokesperson for the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA), approximately 200 asylum seekers are expected today.
They come from various other reception locations in the Netherlands, where they were temporarily accommodated after their arrival in the application center Ter Apel.
In recent days, Defense and the Red Cross have built dozens of tents and pavilions at Fanny Blankers-Koen sports park in Almere to accommodate between 400 and 500 people.
The temporary accommodation is for two weeks. In those two weeks, four to five temporary buildings will be built. This emergency shelter may remain in place for a maximum of one year.
Shortage in the housing market
All regular reception locations in the Netherlands are full and the emergency reception location in Goes has also reached maximum occupancy. As a result, people recently had to sleep on chairs and stretchers in the application center in Ter Apel. As of 1 November, a minimum of 4,000 extra childcare places are required.
The COA is struggling with a major shortage of reception facilities for asylum seekers. An important cause is the increasing number of asylum applications, partly due to the arrival of Afghan evacuees. There is also hardly any flow in the reception locations due to the tight housing market. “As a result, status holders continue to live in the reception locations for longer and thus occupy places for new asylum seekers,” said a spokesperson for the COA.
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