Asylum reception agency asks provinces to provide 2,600 emergency shelters

The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) has asked eight provinces to find a total of 2,600 emergency shelter places for asylum seekers. The organization is uncertain whether there will be enough shelter spaces in the Netherlands by the end of July.

The request was sent to Gelderland, Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland, and Zuid-Holland. These provinces previously failed to meet the number of shelter places they were required to provide under the distribution law. The COA is asking them “to work with us to find possible solutions to quickly establish 325 additional emergency shelter places per province.”

In a letter to the provinces, the COA stated that it wants to "prevent having to suddenly overwhelm municipalities with urgent requests at that time." Therefore, the agency is "already asking for your cooperation, along with that of your municipalities, to establish 325 emergency shelter places within your province."

Former Minister of Asylum Marjolein Faber had requested 101,500 shelter places to be arranged under the distribution law. The deadline for this was July 1. Municipalities had only arranged 74,500 shelter places by the deadline.

According to the COA, nearly three-quarters of the municipalities met the requirement "either fully or partially." Among the provinces, only Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe, and Flevoland had created enough shelter places.