Asylum seekers forced to sleep outdoors in Ter Apel

Twenty asylum seekers were forced to sleep on the grass in the rain at the Ter Apel registration center due to a critical shortage of accommodation in the Netherlands. Humanitarian organizations, including the Red Cross and Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland, have warned that the country is falling below a “humane lower limit.”

The registration center in Ter Apel is facing long-term overcrowding. While the facility has a capacity of 2,000 people, the lack of available space has forced many to seek shelter in temporary locations like Zuidwolde and Warffum, which are also under pressure. The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) has stated that hundreds of additional emergency spots are urgently needed to prevent more people from sleeping outside.

According to the COA, the shortage is not caused by a sudden surge in applications but by limited throughput. Delays in asylum procedures by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) and the judiciary, combined with nearly 18,500 status holders waiting for permanent housing, have created a bottleneck in the system. Minister Van den Brink described the situation in Ter Apel as “unworthy of the Netherlands.”