A group of people wait in front of the reception centre in Ter Apel.
Source: Vluchtelingenwerk / Kees van de Veen
News

Not enough space in reception centre in Ter Apel if you apply for asylum there

Published at: 20/09/2024, 00:00

The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) may not be able to accommodate all people seeking asylum in Ter Apel. This is because the reception centre is full. You can still apply for asylum in Ter Apel, but it is not certain whether you will also get a place to sleep and in a reception centre.

There have long been problems with reception centres during the asylum procedure

If you want to seek asylum in the Netherlands, you must register in the village of Ter Apel. There, your asylum application will be registered with the

Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND)
. When you apply for asylum, you are entitled to a place in a reception centre. The COA is responsible for this reception centre. Yet for a long time there has been too few places in reception centres in the Netherlands. Especially in Ter Apel.

On the last few nights, the reception centre in Ter Apel was full or nearly full

According to the rules, no more than 2,000 people may be accommodated at the same time in Ter Apel. Yet too many people slept there. For example, on the night of 16-17 September 2024, 2,302 people slept there.

Other municipalities in the Netherlands offered sleeping places for the people who could not spend the night in the regular reception centres. It is still unclear whether enough places in reception centres can be arranged outside Ter Apel for the coming nights as well.

You will probably get a place in another reception centre if Ter Apel is full

Have you arrived in Ter Apel today and there are no places in reception centres there for you? If so, COA and sometimes the Red Cross will probably arrange for you to be taken to another reception location. Sometimes

VluchtelingenWerk Nederland (VWN)
will also be present to answer your questions about the situation.

Make sure you do register with the IND in Ter Apel

Without registering with the IND, you have no right to asylum reception and your asylum procedure will not be officially started. Even if you do not receive a place in a reception centre, it is important that you are registered.

This post will be updated as there is new information. Please also keep an eye on RefugeeHelp's social media.


What do you think of this article?


The information you will find on this platform comes from the human rights organisation VluchtelingenWerk Nederland, in cooperation with its partners.
In collaboration with Contentful