Over the next two weeks, two thousand additional places must be found for the emergency reception of asylum seekers. Some crisis emergency reception locations may remain open longer. In that case, the deficit on 1 April will be 1,000 places.
This became apparent on Monday during a digital consultation of State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum) with the 25 mayors of the Security Council, says council chairman Hubert Bruls, also mayor of Nijmegen.
“There are actually about 60,000 structural places for asylum seekers needed in the Netherlands. But structural shelter has not yet been arranged. It is therefore clear that emergency shelter is still unavoidable,” said Bruls. The security regions will no longer arrange this in the spring and will hand over their task to the so-called provincial control tables, which will then have to look for places for asylum seekers together with municipalities. “It was never the task of security regions. We did it because there was a crisis, but now it’s really enough.”
Big stream
A large influx of asylum seekers is expected to arrive in the Netherlands again in the spring. At the same time, many crisis emergency shelters would close because the buildings are needed for other purposes. Now that the need is still high, many municipalities have decided to keep the emergency shelter open longer, it turned out during the deliberation. At least until July 1, according to a spokesman for the State Secretary. It is hoped that more emergency shelters can remain open. If that happens, thousands more places will be needed.
Some municipalities still have room in their emergency shelters, says Bruls. But those places are sometimes not filled because, for example, a municipality does not want to accommodate men traveling alone for fear of nuisance. “That is allowed and that is not possible,” says Bruls. “It is also not solidarity with other municipalities that make room for every refugee.”
In Bruls’ own municipality of Nijmegen, an emergency shelter will open for 1200 people in mid-April. The municipality expects that especially men traveling alone will end up there.
Cruise ship at Velsen
Earlier today reported RTL News that if nothing happens by the end of the month, almost four thousand reception places would be too few. Those figures were circulated among the mayors of the Security Council before tonight’s consultation.
In the documents about RTL News wrote, the possible closure of the cruise ship at Velsen was not yet taken into account. As a result, the shortage could increase by another thousand places. The city council in Velsen will soon decide whether the cruise ship should actually go.
About 60 percent of the residents of Velsen-Noord would be against an extension of the term, wrote NH News earlier. It is therefore expected that the Velsen city council will support the mayor’s proposal, which means that the cruise ship will have to leave in mid-April.
How does the asylum procedure work in the Netherlands? Arda Kaya will find out for you (video):
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss a thing of the stars.
