Red Cross sets up tents in Ter Apel for emergency relief | Inland

The Red Cross is also ready to take people to emergency reception locations elsewhere in the country. The aid organization says it receives support from the Dutch Council for Refugees and UNICEF for the emergency shelter initiative. According to the Red Cross, the situation in Ter Apel is “below any humanitarian level and downright unacceptable.” In the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, people had to sleep outside because there was no room left. They ended up staying overnight in waiting rooms in the center.

A spokesman for the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) confirms that the Red Cross has placed tents “with facilities such as coffee.” The number of people in the application center is also monitored. The spokesperson was not yet able to say whether there is enough space to receive everyone in Ter Apel on Wednesday evening.

State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum) has asked the Groningen security region to deploy crisis emergency shelters because of the crowds in Ter Apel. It is so busy that it is no longer possible to transfer people to alternative locations in time. With crisis shelter, people are accommodated in sports halls, for example.

“It is distressing that there are many empty beds available for refugees,” said Red Cross director Van Schaik about the reception. “Municipalities that have not yet done so must now take responsibility. It is time for municipalities to open up available shelter places to refugees, wherever they come from. Anyone who asks for asylum in the Netherlands must be treated with dignity.”

Van der Burg said on Wednesday that he expected the serious shortage of places in Ter Apel to continue for almost a week. The COA expects that about two hundred asylum seekers a day will come to the application center in the coming period.

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