No agreement reached on shelter for undocumented migrants

Discussions between the government and municipalities on shelter and provisions for failed asylum seekers and other undocumented migrants failed. No agreement could be reached, State Secretary Klaas Dijkhoff of Security and Justice announced on Monday, NU.nl reports.

According to Dijkhoff, the municipalities and government could not agree on how to facilitate municipal shelter. A number of municipalities want to hold on to providing their own shelter, while the government wants only a limited number of municipalities to offer shelter to undocumented migrants - the so-caled bed, bath and bread regulation.

As a result Dijkhoff will no longer compensate municipalities for giving shelter to undocumented migrants, because he believes that municipalities must not undermine national policy. He is also working on a law that forbids municipalities to provide shelter for failed asylum seekers, reserving that responsibility to the national government. He added that there will always be shelter available to asylum seekers still in the procedure or those who can not return to their country of origin for whatever reason.

This issue has been a matter of debate for some time. Last year the VVD and PvdA reached a compromise on the issue after days of crisis debates. The compromise stated that undocumented migrants are entitled to temporary shelter in the five big Dutc cities and Ter Apel. Shelters in other municipalities had to be closed. 

The PvdA fought to give failed asylum seekers clothing, shelter, breakfast and dinner - bed, bath and bread. The VVD only wanted to give this to failed asylum seekers cooperating with their return to their home country, nothing to those refusing to cooperate.