Sep 23, 2023 at 6:48 PM Update: 6 hours ago
The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) believes it will have sufficient places to accommodate all asylum seekers, not only this weekend, but also early next week. The acute need for shelter has thus been resolved, COA reported on Saturday evening.
There has been sufficient supply from municipalities to offer everyone a place “to at least get through this weekend and early next week”.
It is not known which municipalities have specifically responded to the call from outgoing State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum) to make more places available for the reception of asylum seekers. Arnhem and Zwolle had already offered shelter for two hundred and sixty asylum seekers respectively.
Much more reception capacity will be needed in the near future, says COA. “Thanks to the municipalities that took action quickly and are still taking action. The latter is desperately needed, because we will need many additional places in the near future.”
Van der Burg’s call has an effect
On Friday, Van der Burg called for 450 extra places. The State Secretary asked the municipalities to quickly provide additional shelter for 200 adult asylum seekers and 250 minors.
“Every year, the daily influx of asylum seekers is highest in September, but this year the number of people reporting per day in Ter Apel is above average,” Van der Burg wrote in an brief.
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Influx of unaccompanied minors higher than expected
The influx of so-called unaccompanied minor aliens (AMVs) in particular is currently higher than expected. According to the COA, municipalities were called on months ago to create more places, but that call yielded virtually no results.
On Thursday there were no fewer than 330 unaccompanied minors in Ter Apel. That is approximately as many as at the height of the crisis in 2022. The location is equipped for only 55 unaccompanied minors. The COA managed to arrange just enough beds through trial and error, but said it was really paying its dues.
2023-09-23 16:48:09
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