NOS News•today, 11:24 PM
The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) will immediately accommodate as many status holders as possible in hotels near the asylum seeker centers where they are currently staying. Formal permission from the municipalities involved is not required for this. The COA says it acts “on behalf of the government and after approval of the King’s commissioners”.
By accommodating status holders in hotels, COA hopes to reduce the pressure on asylum seeker centers. There is a shortage of shelter places and a number of larger and smaller shelter locations will soon close, including in Biddinghuizen, Breda, Meppel, Huizen and Nijmegen.
Status holders are people with a residence permit and the right to a home in the Netherlands. Currently, almost 10,000 status holders are waiting in asylum reception centers for a home in the municipality to which they are linked.
That home should actually be available within 14 weeks after obtaining a residence permit, but in many cases this is not possible. The places that status holders occupy in the asylum seeker centers cannot be used to receive asylum seekers.
Urgent appeal
According to the COA, status holders are placed in hotels in “small numbers”. The organization says it ensures that status holders remain visible at the nearest COA location. The places that become available in the asylum seeker centers will go to asylum seekers who are now in locations that are about to close.
At the beginning of this month, outgoing State Secretary Eric van der Burg for Asylum and Migration made an urgent appeal to municipalities to make hotels available. Hotels are already being used for emergency accommodation and some of these accommodations already have status holders. In principle, municipalities do not have to give permission for this because the status holders are lawfully in the Netherlands. This is different for asylum seekers.
The Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG) says it is aware of the plans for status holders. The umbrella organization emphasizes that it is “nice” to inform municipalities in advance about the arrival of status holders at hotels. The COA says that that also happens.
