Dozens of municipalities fed up with Dutch gov't could open their own asylum reception
Several dozen Dutch municipalities are investigating whether they can organize asylum reception “in-house” without assistance from the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA). After experience with taking in Ukrainian refugees and arranging crisis shelters, the municipalities think they can open asylum shelters more easily without waiting for cooperation from the COA, De Stentor reports.
Staphorst is one such municipality. It would like to “retain more control,” Alderman Jan Carlo Bos told the newspaper. Since the introduction of the Asylum Distribution Act earlier this year, Staphorst has to accommodate approximately 112 asylum seekers. And yet the municipality is not currently housing a single one.
In the spring, Staphorst and the COA explored the locations of Piri Piri, a former restaurant in Rouveen, as a possible location for a shelter. But COA later declared the project would not be financially feasible for the agency.
“We worked hard on that, but it didn’t work out. A lot of time was wasted on that,” Bos said. Staphorst has, therefore, chosen a different route and is working on a plan to organize asylum reception “in their own way,” he said.
“We are assuming a tailor-made approach that suits the municipality,” Bos said. “We want to sit down with residents as soon as a location is in sight. This is about the identity of Staphorst. On the one hand, the solidarity and standing shoulder to shoulder. On the other hand, the entrepreneurship, which is where the desire to organize reception under our own management comes from.”
Should Staphorst open its own asylum reception shelter, it will be the first Dutch municipality to do so without the COA. Spokesperson Bob van ‘t Klooster of the COA told De Stentor that Staphorst isn’t alone. “There are currently several dozen municipalities in the Netherlands that, within the framework of the Distribution Act, are considering asylum reception under their own management.”
The COA was hesitant to comment on the municipalities’ plans. “A lot is still unclear, which is why we are currently taking a reserved stance. When the plans are more concrete, we will give our opinion,” Van ‘t Klooster said.
Under the Asylum Distribution Act, municipalities are obliged to take in a fair share of asylum seekers in proportion to their population and other factors. The exceedingly difficult process of getting the law passed in both Houses of Parliament and then implementing it was handled by former Asylum State Secretary Eric van der Burg.
The VVD politician’s bill was approved, giving municipalities until November 1 to submit their plans for asylum shelters. The new coalition government intends to scrap the law without first seeking Parliament’s approval by declaring the asylum situation a national emergency. The VVD is also part of the current coalition.
According to Jaco Dagevos, a professor of integration and migration at Erasmus University, privately managed asylum reception can be a way to get things done more quickly in municipalities where taking in asylum seekers is a sensitive issue. But municipalities must not underestimate this task, Dagevos told De Stentor.
“I am surprised by this choice from Staphorst,” the professor said. “I understand the arguments, but asylum reception is complicated. The question is whether Staphorst can do it better than the COA. That organization has specific experience that a municipality lacks.”
He also told the newspaper that COA can proactively offer extensive knowledge and training on issues like the composition of the residents within asylum centers. “Who do you put together, who not? How do you ensure good dynamics. I wonder whether a municipality would know enough about that. You shouldn’t underestimate that.”
