Asylum centers filling up

The asylum seekers' center in Budel, Brabant, is filling up fast. The Nassau Dietzkazerne barracks has a maximum capacity of 1200 people. At the moment, more than 1100 refugees live there, meaning the center administrators have to look for a new location to accommodate the overflow. 

"We are already calmly looking for other locations", a spokesperson for Asylum Seekers' Centers (AZC) Budel tells Omroep Brabant.

According to the spokesperson, the center in Gilze has expanded its capacity, which has helped the center in Budel. On Monday, it became known that the Central Organ for the alleviation of Asylum Seekers (COA) is renovating the shelter. "This gives us time and space to calmly look for other possible locations", the spokesperson says.

AZC Budel has been taking in asylum seekers since May. These mostly come from Eritrea and Syria. The former barracks received 900 people in the first phase. This quickly grew to 1100, however. "It does indeed go quickly, but it is not the case that we will soon have to say 'full is full'. There will always be a search for solutions."

The spokesperson for AZC Budel says that there is also a steady stream of asylum seekers leaving the center. "That happens when they have received a permit from the municipality, or if they have to go back to their country of origin. The in- and out-stream remains active."

There has been some protest against the arrival of the asylum seekers in Budel. On Facebook, one group named 'Cranendonck has enough asylum seekers' received more than a thousand likes in a few days.

Support is also present, however. 'We Cranendonckers bid you welcome' is another, more understanding Facebook page.