There are structurally too many asylum seekers staying in emergency shelters at the application center in Ter Apel. This emergency shelter has room for 125 people, but at the request of RTV North at the municipality of Westerwolde it appears that this number is regularly exceeded.
The municipality demands that the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) takes measures. Some city council members also say they “can no longer handle it locally” and make an appeal to national politics.
Full tents
Scattered around the application center in Ter Apel are large white tents that serve as emergency shelters. Asylum seekers go there if they are not yet identified and registered. After 6 pm the application center is closed and they have to wait in the tents until the next day.
But those tents are full. In recent days, asylum seekers have been forced to sleep on camp beds or chairs. That led to unrest at the end of last week. The police had to intervene both Thursday and Friday to restore order. Eight people were then arrested.
Measures demanded
According to a municipal spokesperson, only in exceptional circumstances can more than 125 asylum seekers stay overnight in the tents “to prevent groups from wandering.” He calls last week’s situation “not in accordance with the agreement”.
“The municipality has also addressed COA about this,” he says. Measures have also been demanded: “We are now monitoring a controlled reduction in order to return to the agreements made”.
The COA confirms to the regional broadcaster that talks are being held with the municipality to get out of this situation. It is not known exactly what that reduction will look like.
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