Ter Apel too full again all weekend, COA fine is approaching 400,000 euros | Domestic

The permitted maximum number of 2,000 asylum seekers have been sleeping in Ter Apel all weekend. In the night from Sunday to Monday there were 2,149.

Nevertheless, the collective labor agreement was able to create sufficient sleeping places and the Red Cross did not have to intervene, says Engbers. The Red Cross feared that there might not be a decent place to sleep for all refugees last weekend. The aid organization was seriously concerned about this and called on municipalities on Thursday to quickly create more reception locations.

If that doesn’t happen, “we will end up with situations far below humanitarian standards and people sleeping in spaces that are not suitable for that at all,” the Red Cross said on Thursday. The organization therefore offered COA to help set up new locations, but in the end this was not necessary.

For every day that more than two thousand asylum seekers sleep in Ter Apel, the COA must pay a penalty of 15,000 euros to the municipality of Westerwolde, which includes Ter Apel. The municipality enforced this in court.

After last night, it is already the 26th time that COA has had to transfer money to the municipality. The fine amount now stands at 390,000 euros. That amount can amount to a maximum of 1.5 million euros.

Things went well at the shelter for a while. Between February 24 and March 8, the number of refugees in Ter Apel remained below two thousand. But since March 9, too many people have been sleeping in the registration center.

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