Housing corporation wants to help evicted refugees

The Amsterdam housing corporation Rochdale is willing to help failed asylum seekers with temporary housing, CEO René Grotendorst told BNR. This will only be in emergencies and must be designated by the municipality. Initially this will involve refugees from the Vluchtgarage in Amsterdam Zuidoost. "We are not actually allowed to accommodate them, but if the municipality says that we must and can doe something, we will do so in an emergency." Grotendorst said. "Then the municipality will give through names, and we provide temporary housing, but it will always be a temporary emergency provision." If a refugee is then given a residency permit, Rochdale will anyway play a role in finding a home for him. The refugees staying in the Vluchtgarage were evicted from the property on Monday. They marched to City Hall where they demanded to speak with Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard van der Laan. This was to no avail and they ended up sleeping in tents or on the street in De Pijp. Only a small number of the asylum seekers made use of the municipality's bed, bath and bread provision. The rest chose not to do so, to show their dissatisfaction with the municipality not providing a permanent solution to their problem.