Omroep BrabantThe Van der Valk hotel in Uden
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NOS News•today, 4:41 PM•Adjusted today, 5:49 PM
The reception of 300 asylum seekers in a Van der Valk hotel in Uden will not take place for the time being. The municipality of Maashorst must first make a decision on the permit application from the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA), so that local residents have the opportunity to object. The court decided that today.
After it was announced in July that the municipality wanted to accommodate asylum seekers in the hotel for three years, a group of 32 local residents went to court last week to request a postponement. Because the permit application was not in order, local residents were unable to object.
The local residents do not feel heard in the entire process. They say they are not so much against the shelter, but against the way things are going. For example, they have no clarity about the composition of the group of asylum seekers. Once they have moved into the hotel, the residents say it will be an irreversible situation.
The municipality, in turn, states that it has a social responsibility to accommodate the asylum seekers. According to the municipality, there is also no reason in advance to assume that the permit will be refused.
That is why the municipality wanted to continue the shelter. Just before the case was heard, the municipality issued a decision to tolerate the permit application.
‘Don’t forget the interests of local residents’
The court believes that the municipality should not forget the interests of local residents, as was evident during the ruling today. “The municipality itself indicates that the studies into the consequences of asylum reception for the living environment have not yet been completed,” the court said.
“This does not match the municipality’s statement that the concerns, views and interests of those involved have been taken into account,” he said. Broadcasting Brabant the preliminary relief judge. “In addition, the municipality has still not made a decision against which local residents can object. As a result, local residents are rightly faced with a fait accompli.”
The municipality must now first make a decision on the permit application. Local residents then have two weeks to object.
COA disappointed
Outgoing State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum) announced today that he still needs 4,000 reception places before January 1 to cope with the influx of asylum seekers to the Netherlands. He appealed, among other things, to the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG) to quickly realize shelter.
The COA regrets the judge’s ruling. Employees were ready to receive the first residents next Monday, but that will not happen.
“Very unfortunate. We all know how dire the need is. Just look at the images of Ter Apel. This would have been a welcome addition, but unfortunately,” says COA spokesperson Caroline van Dullemen. Broadcasting Brabant.
She doesn’t blame the municipality. “We have good cooperation. This shows how difficult it is to realize shelter.”
If the procedures are now completed correctly, asylum seekers may still be able to go to the hotel at the end of January.
2023-12-08 16:49:24
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