Only few municipalities have evicted third-country nationals from shelters

Only a few municipalities have evicted third-country nationals from refugee shelters, even though their protection has officially ended, and the outgoing State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum) has declared that the municipalities may stop accepting third-country nationals. Many municipalities are waiting until there is clarity. There are also many municipalities where third-country nationals cannot be deported because judges have ruled against it.

The ANP press agency has visited around 170 municipalities in the last few days, about half of all municipalities in the Netherlands.

About 15 municipalities have decided that the third-country nationals must indeed leave the shelter, as the State Secretary wants. Some have already started removing third-country nationals , others are about to do so. These include Almere, Dordrecht, Hilversum and Amstelveen. Apeldoorn also wants to evict third-country nationals from the shelter, but first wants to be sure that the right people leave the shelter.

Around 90 municipalities, almost half, stated that they do not accept third-country nationals. This means that there is no one in these municipalities whose admission would be terminated. Therefore, discussing the eviction of third-country nationals does not concern them. These include small municipalities such as Ameland and Terschelling but also cities such as Arnhem and Deventer.

More than 30 municipalities are waiting and deliberately leaving third-country nationals in shelters for the time being. This includes the approach of the four major cities, Tilburg, Nijmegen, Den Bosch and Enschede.

Many third-country nationals are challenging the decision to leave the country in court. The court in Amsterdam has asked the highest European court to clarify the European agreements on the admission of third-country nationals. Pending a response, more and more judges are deciding that third-country nationals can stay for now. The Council of State, the highest administrative court, also holds this view. At least 550 third-country nationals can thus stay temporarily.

Due to these provisional measures, around 30 municipalities are not allowed to evict third-country nationals from their shelters, whether they want to or not. Third-country nationals who have applied for asylum may also remain in the municipal reception center for the time being. The reason for this is that the reception center for asylum seekers has no room for them. Emmen, for instance, is one of these municipalities. Eight third-country nationals are housed in the town of Drenthe. Six of them have a pending asylum application, the court has granted the other two a temporary settlement. "They are allowed to stay for the time being. Such exceptions are also the rule in Delft, Leeuwarden and Maastricht.