“Despite the promise from the Security Council, things are going completely the wrong way tonight at the shelter in Ter Apel. Tonight we are over the peak of two weeks ago. We announced it but it’s really going wrong now.”
Irresponsible
The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) endorses in a statement that this is ‘no longer responsible reception’. “The Security Council has promised to come up with locations on Monday. As soon as locations are available, we can prepare them as soon as possible and move residents from Ter Apel to relieve this location.”
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This afternoon, the municipality summoned The Hague and COA to provide crisis relief, so that fewer people need to be sheltered in Ter Apel. According to the city council, the limit of 2000 asylum seekers in Ter Apel has been regularly exceeded since the summer of this year.
Sleeping on chairs
“I notice that the COA no longer has the situation under control,” Mayor Jaap Velema told RTV Noord. Because of the crowds, some nights people sleep on chairs and stretchers.
Yesterday, outgoing Minister of Justice and Security Ferd Grapperhaus asked mayors to quickly set up 800 reception places for foreigners. Another 1,500 are to be added in the coming weeks.
Hubert Bruls, chairman of the Security Council, said that the mayors recognize the problem. “We are therefore happy to think along and have subsequently made agreements about this so that 1500 refugees can be taken care of within two to three weeks,” says Bruls. “In this way, together we ensure that the refugees can be received in a humane way.”
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