Social organizations plead with PM Rutte to take control of asylum crisis

On Tuesday, five civil society organizations plead with Prime Minister Mark Rutte to take the lead in solving the crisis in asylum reception. The “heartwarming reception of tens of thousands of Ukrainians” shows that the reception crisis can be solved, they said, and Rutte can make the difference.

“The Netherlands allows vulnerable people and children to stay in degrading conditions,” UNICEF Nederland, UNHCR Nederland, the Dutch Association for Pediatrics, the Dutch Red Cross, and refugees’ council Vluchtelingenwerk wrote in a letter to the Dutch Prime Minister. “Our country allows refugee children to get even more damaged.”

The situation in the overcrowded asylum application center in Ter Apel has become a symbol of the crisis in asylum reception, but it is not the only problem, the organizations said. For example, due to the many transfers and lagging registrations in municipalities, it is unknown how many children are currently in crisis emergency care. As a result, children, contrary to what the government has promised, do not get priority in the transition to suitable childcare places. “Meanwhile, everyone is pointing at each other. Nobody takes final responsibility.”

The organizations are calling on the Cabinet to urgently introduce the proposed legislation that makes it possible to oblige municipalities to make reception locations available. They also want children and vulnerable people to get immediate priority and transfer to “a suitable environment where they can stay throughout the procedure.” Registration processes and the provision of information must improve, and structural solutions must be found, the organizations wrote to Rutte.