ANPA asylum seekers arrive at the Ter Apel registration centre
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 06:00
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Isa Huizing
Domestic publisher
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Isa Huizing
Domestic publisher
The municipality of Westerwolde, to which Ter Apel belongs, wants to assert in court today that the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) respects the agreement of up to 2,000 asylum seekers at the place of reception. Since November there are structurally hundreds of too many people staying there.
The number of 2,000 asylum seekers had already been agreed in an administrative agreement in 2010. If the COA does not strictly adhere to this, the municipality of Westerwolde wants a fine of 25,000 euros per day.
Unsafe and unsanitary
This week, nine Groningen municipalities and Royal Commissioner René Paas expressed their support for Ter Apel in a letter to outgoing ministers Yeşilgöz and Van der Burg. They described the situation in the reception center as critical.
The Groningen authorities state in the letter that the continued exceeding of the maximum capacity has serious consequences. “The shelter does not meet hygiene requirements and is physically unsafe.” This is in line with the conclusions of a Justice and Security Inspectorate report from a few weeks ago. Business owners also complain that asylum seekers cause disruption in and around the village of Ter Apel.
Last weekend we published this video about nuisances in Ter Apel and surrounding areas:
Like the inhabitants of Ter Apel they (still) suffer from annoyances
The summary proceedings, which begin at 9.45 am in Groningen, are the result of numerous unsuccessful conversations between the municipality and the COA. The mediation process conducted by the National Ombudsman also failed to bring the parties closer together.
Special situation
The fact that the municipality has now decided to enforce the COA’s compliance with the administrative agreement in court is rather unique. “Disputes are often initiated against the COA,” says Special Professor of Decentralized Authorities Geerten Boogaard. “But the peculiarity now is that a municipality, which is part of the government, files a lawsuit against an organization that carries out government tasks.”
According to Boogaard, what is at stake above all is the credibility of the agreement reached. “The COA often enters into management agreements with municipalities. If it turns out that the COA is not required to comply with the agreements, then the question is what such an agreement represents.”
On the other hand, the COA is divided. The kindergarten chain is clogged. This is partly due to issues over which the COA has little influence: the asylum influx is high, people have to wait a long time for a decision on their asylum application, and status holders cannot move into a house, the which means they have to occupy a place at the reception. There is therefore the possibility that the COA will invoke force majeure.
Diffusion law
The dispersal law will be debated in the Senate next week. With this law, municipalities could be obliged to welcome asylum seekers. This could ease the situation in Ter Apel, but it remains to be seen whether the law will gain a majority.
The municipality of Westerwolde does not want to wait. Whether the judge agrees with the Municipality will probably only be known in two weeks, when the sentence is expected.
2024-01-10 05:00:01
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