Chaos Ter Apel punished by Ombudsman in fierce report: ‘New low looms’ | Domestic

In the summer of 2022, the registration center of the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) was overcrowded. Hundreds of people had to wait and sleep outside in the grass without any aids. There was a lack of hygiene, drinking water, toilets, showers and shelter. The weather was variable, from very warm to cold with showers.

Local residents and authorities offered help because “the government failed,” the report said. But tents, ponchos and garbage bags that had been distributed were taken away, and tea was no longer allowed to be distributed. An emergency ordinance was deployed to limit danger around the site. Helpers were threatened with prosecution, while you can expect the government to ‘think along and work with citizens on a solution, instead of punishing citizens who provide help’, says ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen. According to him, insufficient attention was paid to the humanitarian needs of the waiting asylum seekers.

The situation should have been handled differently, all authorities that Van Zutphen spoke to acknowledged. The focus was too much on safety and public order, the response to aid providers was ‘particularly unfortunate’, the authorities said. The government wants to learn from the situation, but nevertheless the ombudsman is not reassured because ‘the chance that asylum seekers will have to sleep outside again is still present’. Van Zutphen also sees that ‘virtually nothing has changed’ in asylum reception since his recommendations last year.

Care provider Roos Ykema is ‘happy’ with the Ombudsman’s conclusions. ‘There is finally recognition for the injustice done to people on the field in Ter Apel. By taking away tents and criminalizing emergency workers, the municipality and police have put people in danger,” said the spokesperson for MiGreat, one of the organizations that filed a complaint. ‘As far as we are concerned, this applies not only to asylum seekers in Ter Apel, but to all homeless people in the Netherlands: you do not take away tents from people who are homeless for whatever reason, you arrange humane shelter.’

The ombudsman also warns of a recurrence now that ‘a new low point in asylum reception is emerging’, as the registration center is again overcrowded. “Everyone I speak to wants to prevent a repeat of the situation of two years ago in Ter Apel,” says Van Zutphen. This requires solidarity from all Dutch municipal administrators. They must now ‘take up the challenge together, stand next to each other and take their responsibility in the reception of asylum seekers’.