Refugee bed crisis with no end in sight, thousands could be homeless: NRC

Refugee center in Amsterdam.Photo: Lauren Comito

Without a quick solution to housing shortages for refugees, the Netherlands will face “social turmoil,” the NRC reported Friday, citing internal documents from the settlement agency COA, the IND immigration service and the Justice Department. Quoted.

The document reveals that there is “no end in sight” and the agency fears thousands of refugees could be on the streets due to lack of accommodation.

In short, the documents suggested that “unregistered refugees” drifted across the country and caused problems, especially in big cities, the paper said. By April, the shortage of beds could reach 8,000 he.

Last summer, hundreds of asylum seekers were forced to sleep outside Tel Apel reception centers due to lack of beds. Since then, however, additional locations have materialized, but contracts for the other 18 locations expired in February and March, meaning another 5,000 beds are gone.

Earlier this week, Nieuwsur reported that the shortage was expected to reach 38,000 this year due to the closure of asylum centers and the arrival of new refugees.

“It seems that all means to survive the crisis have been exhausted,” the newspaper said.

housing crisis

COA currently provides accommodation for approximately 51,000 refugees in 167 locations. But more than 16,000 of them have already been granted refugee status but are unable to move into their communities because of the housing crisis.

The shortage of accommodation is similar to other countries, with figures from European border authorities saying: Frontexthere were 330,000 illegal border crossings into Europe last year, mostly from Syria, Afghanistan and Tunisia, the highest number since 2016.

The issue, at the request of the Netherlands and Austria, will be on the agenda at the European Summit in Brussels on 9 and 10 February.

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2023/01/no-end-in-sight-to-refugee-bed-crisis-thousands-could-be-homeless-nrc/ Refugee bed crisis with no end in sight, thousands could be homeless: NRC

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