The Netherlands faces a severe shortage of places to accommodate refugees

The Netherlands lacks hundreds of places to accommodate asylum seekers, with the largest refugee reception center in Ter Apel in the north of the country facing a new crisis, the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) said on Wednesday.

“There is a critical need for emergency housing for asylum seekers and temporary, flexible housing for status holders in municipalities,” the agency said in a statement.

As noted, without additional assistance, the number of people waiting in Ter Apel without any services being placed is rapidly growing.

The reception center in Ter Apel is becoming increasingly difficult to accommodate even the most vulnerable asylum seekers - children, women and people with medical problems. Additional emergency accommodation spaces provided by the Red Cross for awaiting asylum seekers are already full.

The problem may become especially acute on the eve of winter: additional emergency accommodation places and the preservation of existing temporary facilities are already required.

“Currently, there is an acute shortage of hundreds of places for accommodation, and this shortage will only grow by the winter months,” the department said in a statement.

According to COA, the problem is not with the increase in the number of arrivals in the country, but with people waiting too long in temporary accommodation centers. The reasons are cited as lengthy procedures in the Migration and Naturalization Service (IND), and the courts, as well as a lack of housing in municipalities for those who have received a residence permit.

According to authorities, refugee accommodation centers have been operating at over 100% capacity for months.