Days before the deadline, COA is still diligently looking for shelter outside Ter Apel

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ANPA asylum seekers upon arrival at the registration center in Ter Apel

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RTV North

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 16:13

The registration center in Ter Apel is still packed. The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) is working hard to reduce the number of asylum seekers to 2,000 by next Tuesday. There are now about 2,200 people staying in the Groningen registration center.

The municipality of Westerwolde, which includes Ter Apel, had demanded in summary proceedings that the COA adhere to the maximum of 2,000 asylum seekers agreed in 2010. The judge ruled in favor of the municipality last month.

But the pressure on reception in the Groningen village remains high, COA said in a statement. The shelter organization says it will do everything it can to comply with the judge’s ruling.

The organization hopes to realize temporary shelter by accommodating more people than agreed at some locations in the country. Whether this is sufficient to reduce the number in Ter Apel to 2000 remains to be seen, according to the COA.

If this does not work, the COA must pay a penalty of 15,000 euros for each day that the limit is exceeded, until the maximum of 1.5 million euros is reached.

Several locations in the country have space available, but due to agreements with the municipalities, this is currently not being used. The COA is in consultation with the municipalities involved to see whether more people can be accommodated temporarily. In this way, the occupancy in Ter Apel is reduced. It is a temporary solution to save time, the statement said.

Shortage remains

If the organization succeeds in arranging additional childcare places, the problem will not yet be solved. “At the end of March we will be faced with a shortage of 5,500 places,” writes the COA.

This was previously a reason for outgoing State Secretary Van der Burg of Asylum to call on the King’s Commissioners in eight provinces to arrange additional reception places. That has not yet produced anything concrete, writes RTV Noord.

The major shortage arises because a number of large emergency reception locations will be closed in the coming period, while the number of people in asylum reception centers is increasing. Not only because of new asylum applications, but also because permit holders have to wait longer than expected for a home.

“The current situation has a great impact on our employees, residents and local residents. It is in everyone’s interest that we quickly work towards a stable reception landscape. But we cannot do this alone,” said COA board chairman Milo Schoenmaker.

Structurally too much

The maximum occupancy in Ter Apel has been structurally exceeded by hundreds of people for some time now. The municipality of Westerwolde went to court in December to reduce the number of asylum seekers in the reception location. According to the mayor, the situation in the center was no longer acceptable, both for the asylum seekers and for residents of the registration center.

Last month, the dispersal law was passed in the Senate. The premise of this law is that asylum seekers are better distributed among the municipalities in the Netherlands. That could alleviate the situation in Ter Apel in the long term.