Inspectorate says the situation at asylum seekers center in Ter Apel is still unsafe

Employees and residents at the Asylum Seekers Center in Ter Apel are still experiencing “severe safety risks,” The Inspectorate of Justice and Security reported. They are calling on the minister of asylum, Marjolein Faber, to make the location safe by ensuring a smooth flow of asylum seekers. This is the goal of the Asylum Distribution Law, but the minister is planning on scrapping this law.

Asylum seekers have not been able to go on to other places, and this has led the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) to fall back on “unsuitable and unsafe” emergency locations. This means that people are being pushed back and forth, and vulnerable residents are not being seen enough, the inspectorate wrote.

Asylum seekers are supposed to be at an asylum seekers center for three to ten days but have been there for months on some occasions. This has a “negative effect on the mental and physical well-being of the residents.”

For example, children are not receiving any education while they are in the center. They also have a lack of privacy and hardly any space to play.

The inspectorate said that it is not only the asylum seekers and COA employees who are suffering from temporary solutions being used constantly. “The structural dependency of emergency supplies is also impacting the municipalities, police, and nearby residents.”

Several letters stating the drasticness of the situation have been sent to the Cabinet by the Inspectorate of Justice and Security. “Unsustainable and unsafe,” the inspectorate wrote in a letter to the Cabinet at the end of 2023. The Health and Youth Care Inspectorate has also issued several warnings.

The COA responded to the inspectorate saying that they have implemented several improvements, like using more security guards, and a separate courtyard for troublemakers.

This has led to a “substantial decrease” in incidents, according to the COA, but the inspectorate the safety and livability in Ter Apel are still not in order despite the measures. “A structural and sustainable solution is still lacking,” after more than two years of supervision.

A spokesperson has said that the inspectorate lacks the resources to force minister Faber into making changes. "We can bang the drum and make recommendations, but in this area, we cannot enforce."

The spokesperson disagreed with the notion that they are frustrated. “We find it sad for the people who are there, people who work there, and the people who live near Ter Apel.”