Cities figuring out how to keep bed-bath-bread shelters after gov't scraps funding

Groningen and Eindhoven are still considering how to finance the National Aliens Facility (LVV) now that Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber has announced that the government contribution for this will stop as of January 1. Utrecht said it would arrange the funding of the bed-bath-bed scheme for undocumented migrants itself. Amsterdam previously indicated it would do so as well. Rotterdam also offers the scheme but was unavailable for a response.

The PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB coalition’s main lines agreement stated that they wanted to stop this scheme, but it did not say when. “I am committed to return instead of subsidized shelter,” Minister Faber said on X about ending the government contribution. The scheme entails offering undocumented migrants and asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal remedies modest shelter so that they do not end up on the street and cause nuisance.

According to figures from last year, the five municipalities that offer the bed-bath-bread scheme for foreigners without a residency permit received a total of 24 million euros annually from the Ministry for the scheme. The municipalities themselves contributed around 6 million euros.

In the summer, the five municipalities had pleaded with Faber not to stop funding. They fear that the people they shelter will end up on the street. According to the municipalities, over 2,700 people have been helped with the scheme in recent years. Of these, 2,100 have left the shelters again.

According to the municipality of Utrecht, the discontinuation of the LVV will have “major consequences” for undocumented migrants and for the safety of the city’s residents. A spokesperson referred to images of large groups of undocumented migrants in the tunnel under the Hoog Catharijne shopping center. “We don’t want that again, which is why Utrecht is taking responsibility for continuing the reception of undocumented migrants.”

A spokesperson for the municipality of Groningen reported that the municipality was examining possible solutions. She said that the municipality has been working on this behind the scenes for some time because the Cabinet decision was already in the coalition agreement. Groningen expects to be able to say more about the future of the bed-bath-bread scheme soon.

Eindhoven reported that it would continue to offer shelter to undocumented foreigners, though how it will finance the LVV from next year “will be investigated and further elaborated in the coming period.”

The ASKV/Asylum Seeker Support Center is concerned about more people ending up on the street. “The coordinated reception and guidance from the LVV is urgently needed to prevent people without a residence permit from ending up on the streets. It offers these people a decent existence and an alternative to life on the margins,” said ASKV, which offers legal, social, and medical guidance to undocumented people.

According to ASKV, abolishing the national reception will not lead to people returning to their country of origin more quickly. “This concerns people who are already in the Netherlands and who will not simply disappear if they no longer receive shelter and guidance from the LVV. On the streets, they do not have access to essential facilities and they can pose a threat to public order and safety. Municipalities and cities will feel the consequences of this. Consequences that are already visible in cities like Brussels and Paris.”