The Dutch Refugee Council, which has filed a lawsuit against the government, says conditions at the center are “inhumane” and violate European law.
The Dutch authorities are investigating him death of a three-month-old baby in registration center for asylum seekersannounced today the governmental Central Service for the Reception of Asylum Seekers.
More than 700 asylum seekers have been sleeping outside the center in Ter Apel in the northern province of Groningen for the past few days. Conditions at the center have already led to a lawsuit being filed against the Dutch state.
The baby died of “unknown causes” in an indoor court used as temporary accommodation for new arrivals who have nowhere else to sleep, agency spokesman Leon Veldt told Reuters.
Conditions at the main reception center have prompted the Dutch branch of the humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (Médecins Sans Frontières) to offer help, the first time it has been needed in the Netherlands, the organization said today
The Dutch Refugee Council, which has filed a lawsuit against the government, says conditions at the center are “inhumane” and violate European law.
The Council’s lawsuit, which is expected to be heard by a court on September 15, seeks improved conditions by October 1, including access to clean water, showers, privacy, proper food and medical care.
“We have reached a sad level in our country”said Groningen mayor Koen Swilling, who called on other Dutch municipalities to open their doors to help reduce overcrowding in Ter Apel.
But plans to resettle asylum seekers have sometimes run into fierce opposition from residents.
Thus, residents of the small town of Aalbergen (east) have been protesting for days against plans by the Dutch refugee agency to house up to 300 asylum seekers in a hotel.
Chanting slogans such as “No to asylum seekers” and “Leave!”, residents said the decision was imposed despite their objections that the town is too small for the influx of foreigners.
Experts say that the current crisis with asylum seekers is not due to the greater number of people crossing the border into the Netherlands but rather to the lack of accommodation in the Netherlands and the fact that the Dutch government has reduced its capacity to receive asylum seekers, the number of which had decreased during the coronavirus pandemic.
RES-EMP
Read the News today and get the latest news. Follow us on Google News and be the first to learn all the news from Skai.gr.
