Overview
- The central registration centre in Ter Apel is operating over capacity and cannot accommodate all arriving asylum seekers, forcing local action to prevent people sleeping outdoors.
- Several municipalities have offered nightly emergency shelter and the municipality of Aa en Hunze has repeatedly used sporthal De Goorns in Gieten for overnight reception.
- The Red Cross recorded 31 people on the first night in Gieten and 25 and 27 people on subsequent nights, while De Goorns has space for about 150 people.
- After each overnight stay in local emergency facilities people are returned to the Ter Apel registration centre, underlining that the measures are temporary stopgaps.
- If the situation continues the repeated use of short-term municipal shelters could strain local services and humanitarian groups and increase pressure on the national reception system.