Outgoing Minister of Justice and Security Ferd Grapperhaus has asked mayors to quickly set up 800 reception places for foreigners. Another 1,500 are to be added in the coming weeks. He did this because the need is high in the asylum chain, the ministry said.
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Grapperhaus made his appeal to the Security Council, where mayors from all security regions consult. The problem, according to his ministry, is that many of the reception locations that now house Afghan evacuees are only available for a short time. There is a need for places where they can stay longer. In particular, reception places for minor aliens who come to the Netherlands without family are necessary, says the minister.
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Eight hundred additional places are needed ‘in the short term’, plus another 1500 ‘that could be operational within a few weeks’, according to the ministry. The latter category should become available ‘for as long as possible’. The ministry did not say how it responded to that request. There is also still a search for 11,000 reception places for people who are currently in reception, but should actually move on to a home.
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Think along
Hubert Bruls, mayor of Nijmegen and chairman of the Security Council, said that the mayors recognize the problems raised by Grapperhaus. “We like to think along and have made agreements about this so that 1,500 refugees can be accommodated in two to three weeks,” says Bruls. In this way we ensure together that the refugees can be received in a humane way.”
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At the end of August, outgoing Minister Kajsa Ollongren (Internal Affairs) and State Secretary Ankie Broekers-Knol (Asylum) also appealed to municipalities and provinces to look for reception locations. The asylum chain cannot cope with the relatively large number of asylum seekers.
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This is partly because more people are coming to the Netherlands than anticipated, partly because of the situation in Afghanistan and partly because of the shortage on the housing market. It is difficult to find a home for status holders, even if they are entitled to it. As a result, they stay in the shelter longer than necessary.
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Although the security regions do not formally play a role in this reception, the government calls on them because of the solution-oriented approach and knowledge and experience of the municipalities within the security regions. Hubert Bruls, chairman of the Security Council: “The administrators of the Security Council recognize the necessity that the minister indicates on behalf of the cabinet regarding the reception of refugees.”
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