Jilmer Postma
News from the NOS•today, 21:31
Mayors are no longer confident that the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) will be able to take emergency shelter from municipalities starting in January, as promised in the asylum agreement. That’s why they are now setting a new deadline, according to a note in the hands of RTL news.
Four mayors say they will stop emergency reception in the event of a crisis after April 1 if there is no greater clarity on the distribution of asylum shelters. The memorandum is part of the long-ongoing discussions between the security regions, the AOC and the national government, says a spokesperson for Hubert Bruls, mayor of Nijmegen and also president of the Security Council.
“Now something must be done for the municipalities, because they have been dealing with asylum problems for some time. On January 1 it no longer seems realistic to transfer reception to the AOC and the law that was promised on October 1 is also in force. still.”
January 1 was mentioned in the asylum agreement
At the end of August, the cabinet concluded an agreement with municipalities, provinces and security regions on the reception of asylum. It indicated January 1, 2023 as the date on which municipalities could stop providing emergency housing in the event of a crisis: temporary and very frugal reception of asylum seekers, for example, in gyms and sports halls.
From that date, the AOC will again deal with the full reception of the asylum. But according to the latest estimates, this is not realistic; as of January, the AOC is still short of around 10,000 seats, according to one yesterday leaked forecast.
Security regions hold back
In the memorandum, which mayors Dijksma (Utrecht), Dijsselbloem (Eindhoven), Bruls (Nijmegen) and Van den Top (Hilversum) wrote on behalf of the Security Council, it is proposed to keep 1 April as the deadline for providing a emergency shelter in case of crisis.
The mayors want first of all more clarity on two conditions that they had attached to this: on the one hand, the new law on reception that the Secretary of State Van der Burg (Justice and Security) had promised in draft three weeks ago and, from another hand, the transition plan of the AOC. The national government currently does not meet both conditions, so the security regions are holding back.
hurry up
Van der Burg announced last week that the bill to spread the reception of asylum seekers in the Netherlands more equitably among municipalities will not be announced until next week. That is, three weeks later than Van der Burg promised in the asylum agreement. According to insiders, the delay was caused by resistance inside Van der Burg’s VVD. The party does not want municipalities to be forced to accept asylum seekers in proportion to their population.
As president of the Security Council, Bruls asks the Secretary of State to hurry up, he says by Volkskrant . “If that law is not passed, we will have a serious problem,” he says in the newspaper. “I also address the House of Representatives with that message. I don’t care what we call that law, the law of distribution or coercion. The effect must be the same: that everyone will contribute to welcoming asylum.”
Tomorrow the security regions and the AOC will further discuss the reception of asylum.
