Residents protesting asylum center want to buy the hotel intended for asylum seekers

Residents from the area around ‘t Elshuys Hotel in Albergen want to try to prevent the property from becoming a reception center for asylum seekers by buying it themselves, according to RTV Oost. The Cabinet intends to designate the hotel as a shelter even without concluding an agreement with the municipality, the first time that will have happened. Albergen is part of the municipality of Tubbergen in Overijssel.

Signs were placed on the building with protest messages denouncing the arrival of an asylum reception center, such as, “Keep Albergen clean,” ‘What are you doing to our beautiful little village?“ and “Soon 10 percent immigrants, can we live here safely?“

It is not yet clear whether residents will have the opportunity to buy up the hotel to keep it from being used by COA, the agency responsible for the reception of asylum seekers. The feasibility is now being investigated, said Hennie de Haan, the spokesperson for the group undertaking the project.

"We are completely overwhelmed by the government's plan to accommodate 150 to 300 asylum seekers here in 27 hotel rooms," said De Haan told RTV Oost. "That number is disproportionate to the 3,500 people who live here in Albergen."

For the second night in a row, protesters gathered outside the property to make their voices heard. Several tractors with inverted Dutch flags, a familiar symbol at the recent farmers’ protests, were also seen. The protesters spoke out against State Secretary Eric van der Burg‘s decision to put the asylum center in their town without consultation.

"That's not how you treat people," said Mayor Wilmien Haverkamp on Wednesday, according to ANP. Haverkamp called the decision one which was being imposed on them.

Van der Burg said that there is no intention to change the decision despite the outcry, as the primary asylum reception center in Ter Apel has been full for an extended period.