During the night from Saturday to Sunday at the application center in Ter Apel, no more asylum seekers slept in a sports hall, tent or on a chair in the waiting area of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND). This was due to less new influx, but also because asylum seekers could go to other reception places. That is what a spokesperson for the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) said on Sunday.
The application center in Ter Apel has been overcrowded for a long time, because the flow of permit holders from reception centers to homes has come to a standstill. According to the spokesperson, in the night from Saturday to Sunday, for the first time in weeks, no asylum seekers had to sleep in the sports hall, a Red Cross tent or on a chair in the IND waiting room due to a shortage of places. .
On Saturday it was announced that Geleen (Limburg) will take over asylum seekers from Ter Apel until July 21. In total, at least four hundred (emergency) shelters became available on Saturday, the spokesperson said.
What this means for the night from Sunday to Monday is still unclear at the beginning of the afternoon on Sunday. “I don’t dare to speak about that now. We still have the whole day ahead of us.” It is also still unknown whether the (emergency) shelters will provide sufficient air for the coming period. “That depends on so many factors,” said the spokesperson.
He points out that a new phase will start on Monday. On Friday, the cabinet announced that a crisis approach will be introduced for the asylum reception that has run aground. State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum and Migration) also said that the security regions have promised about three hundred extra reception places for the coming days.
‘New crisis approach is not a structural solution’
On Monday, Van der Burg must submit a plan to provide enough shelter places for the next three months. Ministers Hanke Bruins Slot (Internal Affairs) and Hugo de Jonge (Public Housing) must ensure that there are sufficient places for so-called status holders. These are people who have gone through the asylum procedure and are allowed to stay in the Netherlands. That plan should also be in place by Monday.
“We are confident that the chosen course will work,” said the spokesman. But it is not a structural solution, he also indicates. This would be the case if asylum seekers with a permit could immediately move on to municipalities where they receive research. As a result, people waiting in Ter Apel for a place in an asylum seekers center could actually go there, according to the spokesperson for the COA.
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