The Dutch government is being sued by a campaign group over the “inhumane” conditions at its asylum centres as space constraints force hundreds of refugees to sleep outside.
The group, VluchtelingenWerk, or the Dutch Council for Refugees, revealed last week that it has filed summary proceedings against the state and the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) after nearly a year during which conditions for refugees have deteriorated, falling below humanitarian standards, it said.
“Thousands of refugees have been living in (crisis) emergency shelters that are not suitable for habitation,” it said in a statement. “This concerns locations such as tents, gyms and event halls.
It lacks the most basic conditions such as privacy, sufficiently clean sanitary facilities, beds, enough and decent food and protection against weather conditions... This has become the new normal and that is unacceptable.”
The suit, which is expected to be heard at the district court of The Hague on Sept. 15, was filed to break an “administrative deadlock” between the central government and local municipalities, who are at odds over responsibility for the refugees, it said.
The Netherlands, like much of Europe, has been grappling with the challenges of appropriately dealing with refugees coming from everywhere from Syria and Afghanistan to Africa. The recent influx from Ukraine has strained already frayed asylum structures across much of the continent.
In the Netherlands, increasing numbers of refugees are having to spend the night sleeping outside the country’s main reception centre in the northern town of Ter Apel. Around 700 slept outside Tuesday night, up from about 400 the previous night, a spokesperson for the COA said, adding that the numbers are a rough estimate and may be higher.
Most refugees in the Netherlands are sent to Ter Apel — whose asylum centre has a capacity of about 2,000 — before being assigned to other centres in the country.
“This reception crisis was caused by political choices and could have been prevented,” the campaign group said. “Due to cutbacks in the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) and the closing of asylum seeker centres, the asylum system has been in a permanent state of crisis for years.”
It added that the reluctance of municipalities to provide additional shelter places has created an administrative deadlock.
The Dutch government acknowledged in an Aug. 9 statement that it’s “distressing” to see images of people sleeping outside on chairs or on the grass, and has said it’s exploring possible adjustments to the country’s asylum and migration policy.
“We agree that the reception of asylum seekers in the Netherlands is worrisome,” said Demi van Bakel, a spokesperson for the ministry of justice. “Therefore, the national crisis structure has been activated. At this moment we are doing everything we can to improve the situation and provide basic needs for all asylum seekers.”
The government is aware of the VluchtelingenWerk suit, and will wait for a judge to rule on whether the reception of asylum seekers has been falling below minimum humanitarian standards, she said.
The government has been struggling over the last few months to address the issue.
It is considering plans for an additional 225 emergency shelters in each safety region and asking municipalities to use a part of their reception places intended for people from Ukraine for other asylum seekers.
The government said in May that as a last resort in some cases municipalities would be required to receive asylum seekers. Local politicians from the prime minister’s own party, the VVD, have since written to the cabinet expressing anger over the policy. Municipalities are “cracking under the high intake numbers,” according to letters cited in a report by local paper De Telegraaf.
The government also faced criticism in July for its plan to consider housing asylum seekers on cruise ships anchored at sea if a large enough harbour could not be found to dock the huge boats.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Dutch Government sued over ‘inhumane’ fate of asylum seekers
Image: Bloomberg
The Dutch government is being sued by a campaign group over the “inhumane” conditions at its asylum centres as space constraints force hundreds of refugees to sleep outside.
The group, VluchtelingenWerk, or the Dutch Council for Refugees, revealed last week that it has filed summary proceedings against the state and the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) after nearly a year during which conditions for refugees have deteriorated, falling below humanitarian standards, it said.
“Thousands of refugees have been living in (crisis) emergency shelters that are not suitable for habitation,” it said in a statement. “This concerns locations such as tents, gyms and event halls.
It lacks the most basic conditions such as privacy, sufficiently clean sanitary facilities, beds, enough and decent food and protection against weather conditions... This has become the new normal and that is unacceptable.”
The suit, which is expected to be heard at the district court of The Hague on Sept. 15, was filed to break an “administrative deadlock” between the central government and local municipalities, who are at odds over responsibility for the refugees, it said.
The Netherlands, like much of Europe, has been grappling with the challenges of appropriately dealing with refugees coming from everywhere from Syria and Afghanistan to Africa. The recent influx from Ukraine has strained already frayed asylum structures across much of the continent.
In the Netherlands, increasing numbers of refugees are having to spend the night sleeping outside the country’s main reception centre in the northern town of Ter Apel. Around 700 slept outside Tuesday night, up from about 400 the previous night, a spokesperson for the COA said, adding that the numbers are a rough estimate and may be higher.
Most refugees in the Netherlands are sent to Ter Apel — whose asylum centre has a capacity of about 2,000 — before being assigned to other centres in the country.
“This reception crisis was caused by political choices and could have been prevented,” the campaign group said. “Due to cutbacks in the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) and the closing of asylum seeker centres, the asylum system has been in a permanent state of crisis for years.”
It added that the reluctance of municipalities to provide additional shelter places has created an administrative deadlock.
The Dutch government acknowledged in an Aug. 9 statement that it’s “distressing” to see images of people sleeping outside on chairs or on the grass, and has said it’s exploring possible adjustments to the country’s asylum and migration policy.
“We agree that the reception of asylum seekers in the Netherlands is worrisome,” said Demi van Bakel, a spokesperson for the ministry of justice. “Therefore, the national crisis structure has been activated. At this moment we are doing everything we can to improve the situation and provide basic needs for all asylum seekers.”
The government is aware of the VluchtelingenWerk suit, and will wait for a judge to rule on whether the reception of asylum seekers has been falling below minimum humanitarian standards, she said.
The government has been struggling over the last few months to address the issue.
It is considering plans for an additional 225 emergency shelters in each safety region and asking municipalities to use a part of their reception places intended for people from Ukraine for other asylum seekers.
The government said in May that as a last resort in some cases municipalities would be required to receive asylum seekers. Local politicians from the prime minister’s own party, the VVD, have since written to the cabinet expressing anger over the policy. Municipalities are “cracking under the high intake numbers,” according to letters cited in a report by local paper De Telegraaf.
The government also faced criticism in July for its plan to consider housing asylum seekers on cruise ships anchored at sea if a large enough harbour could not be found to dock the huge boats.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most read
Latest Videos