Dutch aid agencies on Thursday dealt with a slew of migrants camped out in sweltering heat outdoors at an overcrowded centre for asylum seekers as the Dutch government investigated the death of a baby at the centre a day earlier.
The Dutch branch of Médecins Sans Frontières sent doctors to the small village of Ter Apel in the northeastern Netherlands to provide first aid and other assistance. A cellular hospital will arrive on Friday, the organization’s national director, Judith Sargentini, said. This is the first time the humanitarian organization has been called in to help in a Dutch crisis.
For two consecutive nights, some 700 more people have slept outdoors because the reception centre for asylum seekers with official capacity for another 2000 people has no place for them and the Dutch government is struggling to find emergency accommodation.
With temperatures above 86 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday, migrants lay nonchalantly on blankets under 4 canvas blinds held across poles. Some took refuge in the shadow of a Red Cross post that had Wi-Fi and power to rate their phones.
Others argued as they tried to board a bus to a nearby village. Inside a tent, a nurse tested other people seeking care. Blue plastic paddling pools were installed as rest stations and a small row of portable toilets near the covered areas.
Sargentini the scene of overcrowded migrant camps in Greece.
“It’s another 700 people sleeping on the streets: no showers, very bad facilities, no physical care of institutions,” Sargentini told The Associated Press. “And there may not be as many other people as on the Greek islands, but if you come here after a long adventure as a refugee, you think you find safety, but you find neglect.
She said two other people were hospitalized Thursday, a guy who had had a central seizure and had no diabetes medication.
Dutch Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Eric van der Burg told reporters he was “deeply shocked” by the death of the 3-month-old baby. The cause of death is under investigation, he said.
Mohammad Ali, a 34-year-old Syrian who has traveled through Europe to the Netherlands and has been in Ter Apel for about a month, said he was surprised by the situations there.
“I’m surprised by the bad situations here because I haven’t heard of it,” he said.
A series of points created the crisis in Ter Apel. Processing asylum programs for immigrants from so-called safe countries that are ultimately not allowed to stay can take months or more. A housing crisis means that refugees have nowhere to go once they have received a housing permit and therefore remain in centres for asylum seekers.
Although many Dutch cities have offered positions to Ukrainians who fled war in their country, the welcome mat has eroded for asylum seekers from other countries. Most of those arriving in Ter Apel are Syrians fleeing their country’s terrible civil war.
“There are about 60,000 Ukrainians in the municipalities who are housed there, and there you can see that it is possible. But when it comes to non-Ukrainian refugees, other people here are basically from Syria, Turkey, Afghanistan, the municipalities continue to turn a blind eye,” said Sander Schaap of refugee relief organization VluchtelingenWerk.
In a sign of growing anger over the situation among residents, an organization rallied Thursday night near the asylum seekers’ center, holding banners reading “Real refugees, okay, rioters are leaving” and “Stop the hassle. “
The scenery at Dutch asylum seeker centres has deteriorated so much that VluchtelingenWerk sued the government and its asylum company last week to make improvements. No one from the company commented Thursday.
Sargentini needs to see a replacement even sooner, but he is optimistic.
“If we can leave because the government is taking over, we will,” he said. “But right now, with the Red Cross, we’re here to provide the mandatory aid. “
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