The Netherlands Council for Refugees has issued an ultimatum to the government. Before 1 August, the reception of asylum seekers must meet the legal minimum standards. If not, the foundation will go to court. This is reported by the Dutch Council for Refugees on Thursday evening.
The foundation announces that it will formally hold the State and the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) liable “for the harmful and inhumane conditions in the asylum reception”. A summons is being prepared, so that summary proceedings can be instituted immediately after 1 August.
The Netherlands is struggling with a structural shortage of reception places for asylum seekers. According to the Council for Refugees, thousands of asylum seekers have been staying in (crisis) emergency reception locations for months. “The conditions there are below the humanitarian lower limit and are harmful. In the meantime, the question is every day whether there are enough shelters where refugees can spend the night.”
Frank Candel, chairman of the Dutch Council for Refugees, also says that the reception is not temporarily below par, but that it has become structural. “We’re not going to accept this as the new normal.”
According to the Council for Refugees, a court ruling can help to break the administrative impasse. “There is no lack of solutions for the shortage of reception places. But due to an impasse between the central government and municipalities, decisiveness is lacking. The current reception crisis is therefore primarily an administrative crisis.”
Important warnings and advice have been ignored for years and that is why the reception crisis is legally culpable, says Candel. “People fleeing war or persecution must be properly received. And the employees who work hard to make the best of it must be given the opportunity to do so.”
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