Migrant rush in front of the asylum center: The Moria of the Netherlands

Such images are otherwise known from camps such as the Moria refugee camp: hundreds of migrants in makeshift tent camps. The hygienic care is bad, rubbish is everywhere. All this in the middle of the Netherlands.

Wherever humanitarian disasters take place, they rush to help: in Libya, Bangladesh, Haiti and the Congo. Now the organization “Doctors Without Borders” – for the first time in its history – is also needed in the Netherlands. And urgently, says Judith Sargentini, head of the Dutch section. In front of the asylum center in Ter Apel it looks like it did in the Moria refugee camp on Lesbos, she says. “I compare that with what we see on the Greek islands. It’s also EU, also a shame, but this time in the Netherlands.”

Hundreds stayed in front of the asylum center

700 people have spent the past three nights in front of the fences of the asylum center. They slept on sleeping mats, plastic sheeting or simply on the floor – most of them only sparsely covered. Tarpaulins are stretched over the sleeping quarters. There are also eight Dixie toilets and running water, but according to Nicole van Batenburg from the Red Cross, no showers.

“It’s terribly dirty. There’s rubbish on the floor everywhere,” she describes the situation. “It stinks around the dixie toilets. It’s just a terrible situation – not nice for people and not safe either.”

At least the families with children were spared another night outdoors. Two gymnasiums with cots have been made available for them in Apeldoorn. In the meantime, the Doctors Without Borders team has started work in Ter Apel. Some refugees needed urgent help, says Sargentini. “If 700 people sleep here overnight and lie in the rubbish, then what we do is never enough.”

There are also people with asthma who need medication. Wounds have to be treated, Sargentini continues, and there are also traumatized people among the refugees who need psychological help.

Authority is completely understaffed

The former NATO military base in the province of Groningen is not just a refugee shelter. It is the central point of contact for anyone applying for asylum in the Netherlands. And that’s where the problem begins. The naturalization authority is completely understaffed. Some asylum seekers have been waiting for four weeks to even be able to register.

State Secretary for Justice Eric van der Burg complains that there is not enough accommodation for refugees across the country. The municipalities are not ready to accept people. In the tranquil town of Tubbergen in Overijssel, the government has therefore created facts and bought a former hotel, which is being converted into a refugee home against the will of the municipality. According to van der Burg, however, this cannot be the solution in the long term.

Pressure from negative headlines is growing

“We can’t achieve anything in the short term by being forced. It will also take weeks or months before something happens in Tubbergen,” explains van der Burg. “What helps us is when people voluntarily say we’ll help, then we can do it by tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.”

Municipalities are now hesitantly declaring their willingness to accommodate refugees. The pressure is also growing due to the negative headlines in the media. But hundreds of refugees will sleep outside again that night – and after the hot summer days, the nights are slowly getting colder and wetter.