Mayor Ter Apel: overcrowded night shelter asylum seekers’ center is unhealthy

Mayor Velema van Westerwolde, which Ter Apel falls under, fears the outbreak of diseases in the overcrowded night shelter in his municipality. The night shelter, located at the asylum seekers’ center (azc), formally accommodates a maximum of 275 people. Last night there were 429. In recent weeks it has become clear more often that the emergency shelter is much too busy.

Velema expresses his concerns after an investigation by the GGD. He calls the situation serious. “If you accommodate so many people over a series of nights in a place that has room for 275 people, it can have consequences for public health,” says the mayor. For example, it can lead to outbreaks of the norovirus. Velema also points to the ongoing corona pandemic.

Velema therefore wants the number of people in night shelters to be reduced. “The pressure has been relieved somewhat, but it is not yet in proportion to what is coming in and how we can relocate people in time,” says the mayor. “We want to be able to accommodate normal numbers of people in the asylum seekers center again.”

Velema says that there is a crisis that is taking place in delay:

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