The Ter Apel Visitor Centre seats 2,000 people, leaving others to sleep outside.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Friday lamented the handling of loads of migrants and refugees who have been forced to sleep on outdoor streets at a refugee reception centre due to overcrowding inside.
More than 700 people camped for several nights near the deal in the eastern village of Ter Apel, near the German border.
“It’s horrible what’s happening in Ter Apel,” Rutte said as he expressed disgrace at the fact that the humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has introduced its first operation in the Netherlands for migrants.
“I think everyone in the Netherlands thinks it’s horrible that MSF feels compelled to interfere in Ter Apel,” Rutte told reporters.
The Ter Apel centre in the Netherlands can accommodate up to 2,000 people.
Overcrowding has been piling up for months and the Dutch government says it has been exacerbated by long delays in processing asylum programs and homelessness for those who may stay.
“Asylum seekers here in deplorable and primitive conditions,” said Monique Nagelkerke, MSF’s emergency coordinator.
Rutte said the challenge stems from a 2015 resolution to reduce asylum capacity, as well as the national housing shortage.
But Rutte also announced that the Dutch government had “found a solution to this problem. “
The measures, approved by the Dutch cabinet, include opening a new registration center at a nearby military base with the aim of targeting all other people in the center in shelters until Sept. 10.
The government will also restrict the number of migrants and refugees entering the country, adding the 1,000 asylum seekers who come year under the 2016 deal with Turkey, until the end of next year.
There will also be a restriction on who has the refugee status that can bring their families to the Netherlands. At the same time, repatriations will be accelerated for those from countries that are not on the official danger list.
Some of the refugees sleep under canvas sheets near the official reception centre in Ter Apel
Many refugees were forced to camp on the side of the road in miserable situations with dirt and no showers, the Dutch Refugee Council said.
News agencies reported that some of the asylum seekers have been given blankets and are sleeping under 4 canvas blinds held through poles.
Occasional fights reportedly broke out.
Dutch Red Cross spokeswoman Nicole van Batenburg told the NU. nl news site that the charity is “seriously concerned” about the possible spread of infectious diseases.
Two other people were hospitalized outside the camp on Thursday: a man who had a central seizure and another who had no diabetes medication.
The Dutch branch of Médecins Sans Frontières has deployed doctors to provide first aid and other assistance to others sleeping on the streets.
A cellular hospital is due to arrive on Friday, said the organization’s national director, Judith Sargentini.
The Netherlands is not recently facing a large influx of refugees. Their number is solid at around 43,000 more people per year.
The Dutch government blames the cuts following the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced the closure of some refugee centres and put more pressure on others, leading to overcrowding in Ter Apel.
Asylum programs can take months to process, especially when migrants and refugees arrive from so-called “safe countries” that are ultimately not allowed to stay.
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.
The Council claims that it has deteriorated so much that it has taken legal action against the government.
He said thousands of refugees had to live in tents or gyms across the country in “inhumane circumstances” for nearly a year.
The trial, scheduled for a Sept. 15 hearing, calls for greater conditions, in addition to clean water, showers, privacy, adequate food and physical care.
Meanwhile, crowds of Citizens of Ter Apel protested on Thursday against the “overload” of the network through the asylum center.
The Dutch Justice Department is now investigating whether overcrowding in Ter Apel may have played a role in the death of a three-month-old baby.
In a statement, the branch said the death occurred Wednesday at an emergency center.
“Currently, little is known about the baby’s death, but first aid failed to resuscitate the child,” he added.
Van der Burg told reporters he was “deeply shocked” by the news of the bathrough’s death.
ab, mm/sms, facebook (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)
Europe’s main human rights framework outside the EU has criticised the Netherlands for remedying migrants at the Ter Apel asylum centre.
The asylum seekers, who camped for days outdoors in a crowded refugee reception centre, were bused overnight to closed shelters. A charity is suing the Dutch government over the immigrants’ “inhumane” remedy.