Amsterdam preparing to take in Afghan asylum seekers

The municipality of Amsterdam is in talks with the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) and the government about creating temporary emergency shelter for asylum seekers from Afghanistan, mayor Femke Halsema said to AT5.

"Of course Amsterdam wants to contribute to the reception of people from Afghanistan," Halsema said. "We are happy to help and are currently investigating what we can contribute to this."

People are fleeing Afghanistan en masse since the country fell to the Taliban a week and a half ago. The Netherlands performed multiple evacuation flights, the last of which will happen on Thursday, due to orders from the United States which was in charge of securing the airport in Kabul.

The COA already set up four emergency shelters for evacuees from Afghanistan, but expects to need more space.

The COA has a total of 29 thousand spaces available for all asylum seekers in the Netherlands, 27 thousand of which are now occupied. The agency expects to be completely full within a matter of weeks.