Asylum seekers stay too long in Expo Hall Assen under ‘inhumane’ conditions

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RTV Drenthe

NOS News•today, 08:50

Hundreds of asylum seekers are staying too long in Expo Assen, while it has been agreed with the municipality that people will be accommodated there for a maximum of five days. This is evident from research by RTV Drenthe. Aid organizations Refugee Council and UNHCR are very critical of the conditions in the hall.

The former event location in the Drenthe capital has been serving as a “waiting room” since last year to relieve Ter Apel. The space is deliberately soberly decorated. Using partitions, rooms without ceilings have been created, containing bunk beds for four to six people.

According to the regional broadcaster, people are now being accommodated there for weeks or even months. “COA is making do with resources that they do not have,” says Mirjam Laan of the Council for Refugees, who visits the shelter every week. “They are doing their best, but the conditions in the Expo are inhumane. There is no privacy and it is too noisy.”

The COA says that the facilities cannot be adjusted. “We only use that location temporarily, that’s why we don’t do that. We are also not happy with the conditions in the emergency shelter locations. It is also an unacceptable situation for us. But we are dependent on other parties, especially municipalities, to to create sufficient shelters,” said a spokesperson.

A large number of people in Assen are registered with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND), according to research by the broadcaster. That is not the intention. In principle, after a few days in the ‘waiting room’ they should move on to a so-called process reception location (pol). They also receive living allowances there.

People who stay in Assen for a long time do not receive a living allowance, even if they are already registered. According to Laan, that is a big problem. This means they cannot buy nutritious food for themselves or their children. “It is painful to see how the parents suffer,” says Laan.

A COA spokesperson says that it is true that the Expo also accommodates people who are already registered. That could have everything to do with the lack of shelter places. According to the spokesperson, the municipality of Assen is also aware of this.

The United Nations refugee organization (UNHCR) is also critical of the situation in the Expo. Luke Korlaar, head of legal affairs of UNHCR Netherlands: “As soon as someone reports in Ter Apel and expresses a wish for asylum, all rights for asylum seekers should actually apply to you. So even someone in the waiting room should already receive living allowance. That people in the I think it’s unheard of to not receive a living allowance at Expo.” According to the COA, people in the Expo do not receive a living allowance because there are no cooking facilities in the hall.

There is also a daily reporting obligation for everyone in Assen. All rooms are also checked every morning. Korlaar of the UNHCR is also critical of this. “People who are already registered simply have the right and freedom to go wherever they want.”

“The longer the shelter in a place like the Expo Hall lasts, the more disproportionate these types of strict measures become and the more they start to resemble restrictions on freedom,” says Karen Geertsema, assistant professor of migration law at Radboud University.

Geertsema says that the situation in Assen is the result of the clogged asylum system in the Netherlands. “It is a pattern that you often see at COA. You have well-intentioned municipalities that propose a location. People can first get a bed there for five days, but that is then stretched further and further. You see this happening at more large emergency shelters in the Netherlands. “