Machiavelli prize for communication awarded to Ter Apel mayor

The Machiavelli Prize 2023 for outstanding achievement in the field of public communications was awarded to Mayor Jaap Velema of Westerwolde, which covers the village of Ter Apel and the overcrowded asylum registration center located there. According to the jury, Velema manages to communicate calmly and sharply on a highly sensitive and polarizing topic while working for the interests of everyone involved. The award is also recognition for the entire community in Ter Apel, the jury said.

“Mayor Velema communicates clearly and sharply. And yet not polarizing despite the very sensitive subject. He uses various means of communication to get the story of his municipality and the interests of its residents on the agenda. At the same time, he knows how to draw attention to the problems in asylum reception,” the jury said.

Earlier this month, a clearly emotional Velema pleaded with the court to keep the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) to the agreed-upon limit of no more than 2,000 asylum seekers accommodated in Ter Apel. That number is often exceeded by up to several hundred and has even resulted in people having to sleep outside. The crowded asylum center results in more shoplifting and other incidents in Ter Apel and surrounding villages.

And that’s not even the worst of it, the mayor said in court. He was moved to tears when explaining the serious and even violent incidents that take place on the COA site itself. That affects not only the residents of the municipality but also the safety of the asylum seekers who sought refuge there. “I feel responsible for that,” he said in court.

According to the jury of the Machiavelli Foundation, mayor Velema is “entangled with a problem that he cannot solve himself.” Despite that, he “continues to work tirelessly for the interests of everyone in his municipality. Also, for the people who literally had to sleep outside due to the stagnant policy in The Hague.” And he does all that while keeping the tempers in his community “reasonably under control.”

“Despite sometimes rising tensions, Ter Apel has been living with the registration center in the municipality for years,” the jury said. “The way in which the community in Ter Apela has been carrying this for years is an example for many other, and much larger, municipalities.”

Marja Wagenaar, chairman of the Machiavelli Foundation, will present the prize to Mayor Velema on February 14th. It is the 35th time the prize has been awarded.