Ukrainian refugees harassed in Best; Noord-Holland village says no to asylum center

A group of young people harassed residents at the Ukrainian refugee shelter in Best on Wednesday, including shoving a pregnant woman, the police told Eindhovens Dagblad. The municipality of Wijdemeren decided against opening an asylum seekers’ center in the Noord-Holland village of Nederhorst den Berg, citing “polarization” concerns, AD reported.

According to the police, there were two incidents at the shelter for Ukrainian refugees, located at the former Wilhelmina school in Best. In one incident, a group of young people pushed a heavily pregnant woman. The police called the harassment “unacceptable” and asked witnesses to come forward so that they could track down and punish the perpetrators.

Wijdemeren decided to scrap plans for an asylum center in Nederhorst den Berg because “a lot of unrest has arisen around the intention, which involves polarization,” the municipality said, according to AD. Wijdemeren intended to accommodate up to 350 people in the NERA building.
The municipality arranged consultation evenings to discuss its exploration of the possible asylum center with locals but had to cancel those meetings due to “an increased safety risk” resulting from unrest in the village. “Continuing with the exploration would, in the opinion of the mayor and aldermen, have too great an impact on society.”

The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) has been struggling with a shortage of reception places for asylum seekers for months. The organization is looking for places to open longer-term shelters so that people don’t have to keep staying in emergency shelters, which often consist of little more than a stretcher in a sports hall.