Another prison converted to asylum housing

A former prison in Doetinchem is going to be turned into an asylum seeker's housing center, the Central Organ for asylum seekers shelter (COA) announces. 

According to the COA, there is currently a sizable flood of asylum seekers entering the country, namely from Eritrea, Syria and Somalia.

The prison, De Kruisberg, is standing empty at the moment, but will be home to 350 asylum seekers from June. After that, the capacity of the building will be expanded to house 800 people.

According to the NOS, the COA is not going to change the physical structure of the prison, where the asylum seekers will live in existing buildings. Certain prison characteristics will be taken away, however, such as the barbed wire and high fences.

In Brabant and Drenthe, temporary housing centers for asylum seekers have been opened. The center in Drenthe is the closed former prison Veenhuizen. In Overberg, Utrecht, a former youth detention center will also house young asylum seekers from June.