Thousands of people visit asylum seeker centers on national "Neighbor's Day"

Thousands of interested people visited on Saturday one of the asylum centers that opened their doors on the occasion of Burendag. According to the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) and the Immigration and Naturalization Service IND, this day is "very appropriate to emphasize that asylum seekers are neighbors to everyone around them." On Burendag, the so-called “ Neighbor’s Day”, organized by the humanitarian organization Oranje Fonds, asylum seekers' homes opened their doors.

More than 100 centers participated in this open day. In the provinces of Limburg, North Brabant, and Zeeland alone, more than 2,200 visitors came. In all other asylum seeker centers, the number of visitors ranged from 50 to 200, COA reported Saturday evening after the event. Last year, approximately 12,000 people came to take a look at an asylum seeker center.

There were fashion shows, language classes, cooking workshops, and singing and dancing, COA said. It organized the open house with its partners, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND), the Repatriation and Departure Service (DT&V), and the Dutch Refugee Council. They provided information about their work in the reception centers at various locations.