Gov't "inappropriately" took aid goods off asylum seekers in Ter Apel crisis: Ombudsman

Government agencies acted “improperly and inappropriately” during the crisis at the asylum registration center in Ter Apel in the summer of 2022. The government took aid goods offered away from asylum seekers and citizens who offered assistance were threatened with arrest. The National Ombudsman condemned the government authorities’ actions in a new report titled “Forbidden to provide assistance?”

In the summer of 2022, the registration center of the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) was so overcrowded that hundreds of people had to wait and sleep outside without any aid. There was no hygiene, drinking water, toilets, showers, and shelter - things considered the minimum standards for sheltering people. The weather was variable, going from very warm to cold with showers.

Local residents and organizations offered help because “the government failed” these people, the Ombudsman said in his report. But the government authorities confiscated tents, ponchos, and garbage bags that had been distributed, and banned organizations from offering tea to the people sleeping outside. An emergency ordinance was deployed to limit danger around the site.

Helpers were threatened with prosecution, while you should be able to expect the government to “think along and work with citizens on a solution, instead of punishing citizens who provide help,” said Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen. According to him, the government paid insufficient attention to the humanitarian needs of the waiting asylum seekers.

The situation should have been handled differently, and all the authorities Van Zutphen spoke to acknowledged this. The focus was too much on security and public order, and the response to aid bidders was “particularly unfortunate,” the authorities said. The government says it wants to learn from this.

However, the National Ombudsman is not reassured because “the chance that asylum seekers will have to sleep outside again is still present.” Van Zutphen also noted that “virtually nothing has changed” in asylum reception since his recommendations last year.”

The Ombudsman also warned of recurrence now that “a new low point in asylum reception is emerging.” The registration center is again overcrowded. “Everyone I speak to wants to prevent a repeat of the situation of two years ago in Ter Apel,” said Van Zutphen. This requires solidarity from all Dutch municipal administrators. They must now “take up the gauntlet together, stand side by side, and take responsibility in the reception of asylum seekers.”