Netherlands asylum agency faces criticism over psychiatric care in high-security shelter

The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) is increasingly placing individuals with severe mental health issues in the Hoogeveen Enforcement and Supervision Location (HTL). Originally designed for disruptive individuals, the high-security facility enforces a strict regime involving limited freedom of movement, constant daily checks, and allowances paid in goods rather than cash.

Medical professionals have raised alarms regarding the placement of vulnerable people—including those with schizophrenia, psychosis, and suicidal ideation—in a facility lacking psychiatrists or psychiatric nurses. Over the past year, three doctors resigned from the HTL, citing ignored warnings and the inability to provide adequate psychiatric care. One physician, Marike Ooms, resigned after treating three suicides within a single week.

While the COA and the healthcare provider GZA acknowledge that residents with serious mental health conditions are being housed at the HTL, systemic shortages in the Dutch healthcare system have made accessing specialized psychiatric treatment difficult, leading to significant delays in care.