Netherlands In Firing Line For Migrant Management Negligence By Courts
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Roshan Amiri
- . September 14, 2022
- . Update: September 14, 2022 10:47 pm
There is a refugee shelter crisis at hand and the Dutch government has found itself caught in a whirlwind as a child’s death has come into focus. Migrants have camped outside country’s main asylum reception center; and a child died apparently due to exposure.
The Dutch Council for Refugees (DCR) has filed a court case against the government over lack of living facilities and the government has now found itself caught in a (literally) human rights violation issue.
A country known to be extremely safe and clean, the Dutch government is now taking its housing crisis really seriously. The aim of the court case, scheduled for Thursday, is to break the “administrative impasse” between municipalities, which has led migrant reception to fall “below the humanitarian lower limit for almost a year”, a DCR statement said.
“Our requirement is that as of October 1, the reception standards and facilities again meet the minimum legal requirements,” said the DCR, as it set out the objectives of the litigation.
As the poor treatment of asylum seekers at Ter Apel sparked a national outcry, a visit from King Willem-Alexander late last month put the issue in the spotlight, after which Prime Minister Mark Rutte admitted to feeling “ashamed”.
Officials have found it difficult to accommodate asylum seekers. A new temporary center was opened recently; registration to it takes a one-hour drive away in Tel Apel.
It’s a tiresome task. Ter Apel is still the only application and registration centre for asylum seekers in the Netherlands.
Additionally, the municipalities of Amsterdam and Velsen agreed to house 1,000 asylum seekers each on cruise ships for a maximum of six months starting on October 1. They are to be paid for and managed by COA, the government agency responsible for the reception of asylum seekers.
