More than 400 refugees were evacuated this afternoon from the registration center in the city of Ter Apel, the Netherlands, after the Health Inspectorate denounced the sanitary and hygienic situation of the place, where hundreds of people slept without protection for weeks.
The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers assured today that hundreds of asylum seekers who were outside the Ter Apel registration center were transported by buses to other locations, in Utrecht, Stadskanaal, Zuidbroek, Almere and Groningen.
This sudden decision, which comes after weeks of complaints about the situation in which asylum seekers lived, slept and lived in Ter Apel, came after the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate demanded “immediate intervention” , between warnings about the consequences of the total lack of hygiene in the place.
According to the inspectors, who visited the outer space of the center on Friday to see how some 700 people were on the lawn and in the parking lot, the refugees live “in terrible conditions” and fear that “the lack of drinking water, clean toilets, showers, toilets and dwellings” is a risk for the spread of infectious diseases.
On the other hand, they called for immediate improvements to facilities, because water, sanitation and adequate housing are “crucial.”
It is not clear how long the asylum seekers will be able to stay in these new points to which they have been transported, since they are very temporary accommodations (some only for one night), agreed with the municipalities due to the great pressure of the inspectors. of health.
According to the Agency for Asylum Seekers, some people did not want to leave for fear of missing their turn in the refugee registration procedure, which they have to do in Ter Apel upon arrival in the Netherlands, as the first formal step in the process. asylum in the country.
According to the ANP agency, around 80 people chose last night to continue sleeping outside the center.
The Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières (which deployed a team to the Netherlands for the first time) have been providing basic medical care to the refugees and referring the most serious and chronic cases to hospitals.
During a visit to the Ter Apel reception center, Efe confirmed the humanitarian situation that the NGOs have been denouncing for weeks: faeces float in bathrooms installed on the esplanade, volunteers have been treating wounds and infections as best they can for weeks, chronically ill people transferred from emergency to the hospital and others to survive in tents.
Some of the asylum seekers are injured while traveling and have visible skin problems due to poor hygiene.
Source: Observadora
