Eritrea

The police had to clear out a conference center in Zaandam during the early hours of Tuesday morning, after a party attended by 300 to 400 Eritreans from across the country turned into brawls, NOS reports.

The evacuated Eritreans spread over the center of Zaandam afterwards. The police deployed a helicopter to keep an eye on the situation, according to news wire ANP. 

The number of children in the Netherlands growing up in a family that receives welfare benefits increased by 2.1 percent to a total of 230 thousand last year, Statistics Netherlands reported on Friday. This number increased every year since 2012. 

More than two thirds of children who lived on welfare last year had an immigration background. Half of this group fall under the "other non-western category", compared to 39 percent in 2012. In this category the stats office includes all non-western countries except Morocco, Suriname, Turkey, Aruba and the former Dutch Antilles. 

An asylum seeker living in the Netherlands was convicted of the rape and attempted murder of a 17-year-old girl in Kampen, a panel of judges in Zwolle, Overijssel ruled on Thursday. The Sudanese-born man, Samuel T., was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the attack in the early morning hours of September 4, 2016. During the trial, T., 33, said he would accept any punishment and was not planning an appeal.

A group of failed asylum seekers known under the name We Are Here is squatting in another Amsterdam building. The group of about 30 failed asylum seekers tookup residence in an office building on Reigersbos in Zuidoost, the group announced on Facebook.

Before moving into this building, the people were living in buildings on Rijswijkstraat. They come from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan, according to Het Parool. They've been put out on the street by the municipality of Amsterdam about 20 times, according to them. 

For the first time in years the number of tuberculosis cases in the Netherlands increased last year, according to the national institute for public health and environment RIVM. The increase can completely be attributed to asylum seekers coming from countries where TB is prevalent.

The Netherlands' asylum policy is one of the strictest in the European Union. In only five other European countries asylum seekers have less chance of getting refugee status than in the Netherlands, according to a study done by the WODC, Justice Ministry's scientific research and documentation center

An outbreak of scabies at a temporary asylum reception center in Reuver, Limburg has emergency services quickly trying to contain the infection. Fire department personnel working in the region say 48 people from Eritrea are suffering from the skin condition, newswire ANP reported.

A suspicious package found at an asylum reception center on Friday turned out to be a false alarm. Graffiti with anti-refugee messages has shown up on other asylum facilities around the Netherlands.

Statistics Netherlands (CBS) has reported that in the first eight months of this year, 25,000 asylum seekers have come pouring into the Netherlands. Half of these applicants came from Syria with only around 1,400 from Eritrea.

The first emergency shelter locations for asylum seekers will be put to use this week already. The first asylum seekers are expected to arrive at the IJsselhallen in Zwolle on Thursday or Friday.

More than a quarter of Dutch municipalities are facing problems in providing housing for the people who want to live there. There will be more refugees to the Netherlands and the result is that waiting time for anyone on a waiting list will increase, according to a survey of 326 municipalities. The questionnaire, created by regional broadcasters and NOS, could not get 67 additional municipalities to take part