Status: 08/27/2022 2:25 p.m
The criticism of the catastrophic conditions in front of the Dutch asylum center in Ter Apel became louder and louder. Hundreds of migrants have been waiting there for days in a makeshift camp. 400 of them have now been relocated.
They sleep on the ground in improvised tents, there are hardly any showers or enough toilets: Hundreds of asylum seekers have been camping in front of the overcrowded reception center in Ter Apel, Netherlands, for days. The health authorities described the situation in the makeshift camp as devastating.
Around 400 people have now been relocated, said Leon Veldt, spokesman for the Central Authority for the Reception of Asylum Seekers. They were picked up by buses during the night. 150 migrants were brought to two sports halls on Friday.
Doctors Without Borders in action
During a visit to the makeshift camp, representatives of the health authorities found serious hygiene deficiencies. There is a serious risk of infectious disease outbreaks. Circumstances were so bad that MSF’s Dutch branch sent a team to Ter Apel – for the first time ever in their own country.
At times up to 700 people spent the night in front of the reception center this week. A MSF staffer compared the situation to that in the former Moria camp in Greece.
According to the Red Cross, the asylum seekers slept on the floor – most of them only sparsely covered. Tarpaulins were stretched over the sleeping camp. There are eight portable toilets and running water, but no showers.
A three-month-old baby died this week in a sports hall in Ter Apel where migrants were housed. The authorities announced an investigation into the cause of death.
Asylum seekers are waiting for food in front of the gate of the asylum seeker center in Ter Apel. (recorded August 26, 2022)
Image: AFP
Government wants to take action
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he was ashamed of the Ter Apel scenes. On Friday evening, the government announced a series of measures to ease the country’s crisis in housing asylum seekers. For example, family reunification of refugees and the number of arriving migrants are to be temporarily restricted.
In addition, the government wants to cooperate with the municipalities to provide more housing for people who receive refugee status so that they can move out of the asylum seeker centers more quickly and make room for newcomers.
The Dutch military has been tasked with building a new camp to house people awaiting registration of their asylum applications in the Ter Apel centre.
Local residents protested the situation. The Dutch refugee agency had already filed a lawsuit against the Dutch state last week.