Rotterdam will radically tackle the nuisance caused by Eastern Europeans

The number of Eastern Europeans wandering homeless through the Netherlands has been growing for years. A special shelter outside the city will open in Rotterdam next month. There, this group can kick the habit in six to eight weeks and be guided back to work or to their country of origin.

This usually concerns men who came to the Netherlands for work, then lost their job and therefore their place to sleep. Once homeless, they turn to alcohol or drugs and cause nuisance in various places. “This group of homeless people has become unacceptable. This must now come to an end,” says councilor Ronald Buijt of Leefbaar Rotterdam, who devised the ‘Action Plan for Sleepers Outside’.

Buijt even sees people in his city who were already homeless in Eastern Europe. They come to Rotterdam looking for the best facilities. “People who would rather be homeless in Rotterdam than in Bucharest.” He calls it a very undesirable development. “There is no place here for those people anyway.”

“The objective is: no one sleeps on the streets in Rotterdam anymore. But if you do not adhere to our rules, we will do everything we can to send you back to your country of origin,” said the councilor.

According to Peter van Drunen of the Nico Adriaans Foundation, which organizes the care of the group, it is very good that something is coming that is not without obligation: “You cannot just do whatever you want here. We monitor all the people who stay here. and we want to ensure that they ultimately leave on the best possible terms.”

Residents of the apartments in the centrally located Markthal experience nuisance from the group of homeless people every day. Imke Swierstra and his wife, like many others, no longer dare to park their car in the parking garage they rented. About fifteen men now live in the garage who use drugs, destroy cars and relieve themselves everywhere, the residents say.

The men sleep in the stairwells, says Swierstra: “I understand that it is a major challenge for the municipality to do something with this group because they are legally allowed to be in the Netherlands. We do not know whether the alderman’s plans are feasible. “We just want them to get out of the parking garage.”

Homeless people have been able to get help during the day at the Pauluskerk in Rotterdam for years. Church employee Agda Frederikze acknowledges that the group of homeless Eastern Europeans regularly causes nuisance, also in and around the church. But she doesn’t believe the problems these people have can be solved in six to eight weeks. “For some it is nice that a start is being made, but we think it is really insufficient.”

Buijt is hopeful that the new approach will work. “Over the past two years, we have already managed to get 500 people back to their country of origin voluntarily. We have also guided 500 people back to work. Now we are going to tackle this on a much larger scale.”