The Dutch state has to answer to the court for the dramatically poor housing of asylum seekers. The refugee organization filed a lawsuit in The Hague on Wednesday evening. As a result of the state’s austerity measures, thousands of refugees have been forced to live in tents or gymnasiums under “inhumane conditions” for nearly a year.
With a ban, the organization wants to enforce that the minimum legal requirements are met. This included privacy, healthcare, a bed, decent food, clean showers and toilets, and weather protection.
In recent weeks, the situation in the rural asylum center Ter Apel in the northeast on the German border has escalated. Because the camp is overcrowded, hundreds of people have to sleep outside or on chairs in waiting rooms. “The situation has fallen below the humanitarian lower limit,” says the refugee organization.
“Untenable situation”
State Secretary for Asylum, Eric van den Burg, previously spoke of an “unsustainable situation”. He wants to force municipalities to accept asylum seekers. The trial is scheduled for September 15.
43,000 migrants per year
The cause of the crisis is not a large influx of refugees. It is stable at about 43,000 people per year. But after austerity measures at the immigration service and the closure of asylum seekers centers, there are now no more places and waiting times are increasing, says Frank Candel, president of the refugee organization. “This is not about force majeure, but about politics that have failed for years,”
The approximately 60,000 refugees from Ukraine are not affected by the crisis. They have a special status and were housed by the municipalities or private individuals.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
