There is a lack of tents, toilets, hygiene articles and medicines. Helpers sound the alarm because of the emergency in front of the Dutch asylum center Ter Apel. Now the government has come up with a plan.
The Netherlands wants to overcome an asylum crisis that has been going on for weeks with additional spending of millions and more apartments for migrants. There should not be a recording stop for the time being; however, permits for subsequent travel by family members are to be temporarily suspended. The Dutch media reported unanimously, citing the draft agreement between the government in The Hague and the municipal councils.
According to this, the municipalities are to make a total of 20,000 apartments available for refugees with residence status this autumn. According to reports, the government wants to provide around 730 million euros for various projects in the coming years: from additional emergency accommodation and flexible temporary housing to naturalization and action against troublemakers.
Cause of the crisis is not a large influx of refugees. This is stable at around 43,000 people per year. But after austerity measures at the immigration authorities and the closure of asylum centers, there is now a lack of places and waiting times are increasing, said Frank Candel, chairman of the Dutch refugee agency.
“Real refugees ok. Down with troublemakers!”
In Ter Apel, several hundred people – residents of the village and other places in the north of the Netherlands – protested on Thursday evening against the “overwhelm” of the community by the asylum center. They carried banners with texts like “We’re fed up” and “Real refugees ok. Down with troublemakers!”
The organization Médecins Sans Frontières, which is now operating on Dutch soil for the first time due to the emergency, reported that there were no showers for people outside the center and only a few toilets, which were also not maintained. “Among the people living in the field in front of the reception center in such intolerable conditions are pregnant women, children and people with chronic diseases such as diabetes, some of whom have no medication available,” the organization said in a Friday statement disseminated message. “The MSF team treated people in Ter Apel suffering from skin diseases, respiratory diseases, urinary tract infections, diarrhea and vomiting, mental health problems, dental problems and various injuries.”
Rutte calls situation in Ter Apel “terrible”
Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced on Thursday evening that the government wants to remedy the situation: the cabinet is currently “not busy with anything else,” he said. The situation in Ter Apel is “terrible”. The plan that has now been announced is intended to ensure that people who have already gone through an asylum procedure and received residence status leave the reception centers as quickly as possible so that newly arriving refugees can be accommodated there.
Meanwhile, the European Commission has called on the Netherlands to conduct a thorough investigation into the death of a three-month-old baby in Ter Apel, ANP reported. The child died on Wednesday in a sports hall set up as an emergency shelter. To determine the cause of death, the judicial and health authorities had already launched an investigation before the EU request. According to the ANP, an EU spokesman said they were aware of the “challenging situation in the reception center in the Netherlands” and ready to support the country.
Source: Stern
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