Seven Dutch municipalities not sheltering any asylum seekers, Ukrainian refugees

Seven Dutch municipalities are not sheltering a single asylum seeker or Ukrainian refugee, the Volkskrant found after combining figures on asylum seeker and refugee care in the Netherlands. The newspaper also found that the Dutch security regions are doing much better in providing the required beds for Ukrainian refugees than for other asylum seekers, even though the number required for Ukrainians is much higher.

The Volkskrant noted that it had a lot of trouble getting these figures together. The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) readily provided figures on asylum shelters, crisis shelters, and emergency shelters. But no single organization is keeping track of shelter for Ukrainians. The Ministry of Justice and Security referred the newspaper to the security regions for these figures. Some of the 25 security regions could provide them, but six told the newspaper to call each municipality individually.

The seven municipalities not providing any form of shelter for people fleeing war, persecution, or other forms of violence are Alphen-Chaam, Drimmelen, Midden-Delfland, Molenlanden, Roerdalen, Rozendaal, and Schiermonnikoog. These are mainly smaller municipalities. They all either told the newspaper that they had no suitable locations or that they helped arrange shelter in surrounding municipalities.

When it comes to Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion, almost all municipalities are offering shelter. Of the 344 municipalities, 333 have set up shelters for Ukrainians. About 89,000 Ukrainians are now registered in the Netherlands. Some 62,000 are using the municipal shelters.

The Ministry of Justice and Security asked the security regions to provide 75,000 shelter places for Ukrainians, first asking each of the 25 regions to create 1,000 beds, then another 1,000, and then 25,000 together. According to the Volkskrant, only six security regions failed to provide the first 2,000 shelter spots for Ukrainians.

Amsterdam has by far the most municipal places at 2,360, followed by The Hague (1,141), Utrecht (1,100), Rotterdam (1,069), and Almere (980). Relatively speaking, Gennep hosts the most Ukrainians at 450 to a population of approximately 26,000. Converted, that is ten times more than Amsterdam.

Looking at other asylum seekers for whom the COA is responsible, the Dutch security regions are doing much worse. When people started sleeping outside in Ter Apel in the summer, the Ministry asked each security region to find 225 beds in crisis shelters - usually a stretcher in a sports hall. That number was doubled to 450 beds per security region in August. Only nine of the 25 security regions managed to create those 450 sleeping spaces.

Here too, Amsterdam is doing the most. The Amsterdam-Amstelland security region created 1,149 crisis spots for asylum seekers. Groningen also managed more than a thousand. Rotterdam-Rijnmond got 834, Zaanstreek-Waterland 675, and Brabant-Noord 640. Haaglanden only managed 194. Utrecht scraped together 323.

The newspaper added that some areas don’t have many crisis or emergency shelters but do provide regular asylum shelters. The COA has 157 locations in the Netherlands, 60 regular asylum shelters, and the rest temporary shelters. Zuid-Holland, Noord-Brabant, and Gelderland provide the most places, Zeeland by far the least.

The largest reception location is in Ter Apel, which officially has room for 2,000 people. The municipalities of Cranendonkc (1,500), Gilze en Rijen (1,200), and Dronten, Noordoostpolder, and Assen (about 1,000), also have large asylum centers.