Local elections underway, with Haaksbergen adding asylum center referendum to ballot
Residents of Haaksbergen will cast two ballots on March 18: a municipal council vote and a separate advisory referendum on the conditions for a new asylum seekers center (AZC) in the municipality of Twente.
The referendum will not decide whether an AZC will be built—the municipality is legally required to host at least 129 asylum seekers under the national Distribution Act—but will allow residents to express their opinions on how the center should be organized. Questions include whether the AZC should be a single large facility or multiple smaller locations, whether it can be placed on land intended for housing in five years, and whether it should be located in a quiet or busier area.
“This is the first time Haaksbergen has held a citizens’ referendum,” the municipal spokesperson told Nu.nl. The initiative came from the Vereniging Belanghebbenden AZC Haaksbergen, which collected enough signatures to trigger the vote. The organization declined further comment before the referendum.
The municipal council initially opposed holding the referendum, noting that public votes cannot override national law and can only occur once the council is ready to make a decision. Wesley Uuldriks of local party Nieuw Haaksbergen, together with the CDA, proposed holding the advisory referendum, which was approved by a council majority.
An independent committee formulated the four ballot questions, which Uuldriks called “ultimately the best questions we can present to residents without violating the law.”
Other municipalities are watching Haaksbergen closely. Debates over AZCs have previously led to protests in Uden, Houten, and Uithoorn that required intervention by riot police.
Uncertainty over the Distribution Act, which the national cabinet had announced it would repeal but never did, has fueled community concern. COA, the national asylum organization, has paused approximately 6,000 reception placements ahead of the municipal elections.
