AMSTERDAM (AP) – Amsterdam on Tuesday approved a plan to temporarily house at least 1,000 migrants aboard a cruise ship docked in the Dutch capital’s port as the Netherlands tries to end a housing crisis that has seen hundreds of asylum seekers sleep near a reception centre. last week. .
The ship will remain anchored in Amsterdam for at least six months, according to an agreement between the city and the central government. It is the second Dutch city to approve plans to host immigrants on a cruise ship. In either case, the ships will be discarded so that residents can come in and out whenever they want.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Friday he was ashamed of the situation at the asylum reception center in the far northeastern village of Ter Apel, where 700 migrants were forced to sleep outside in unsanitary conditions because there was no room inside.
The Dutch branch of Doctors Without Borders sent a team to the camp to provide medical care to the migrants. The agency was sent to the Netherlands for the first time.
“The situation at Ter Apel is heartbreaking. “Together, we must solve the housing shortage so that refugees can find a place for themselves,” said Rutger Groot Wassink, a member of the Amsterdam city council.
Groot Wassink described the cruise ship, which is not yet in Amsterdam but will start operating on October 1, as a temporary, short-term solution, and said the Dutch government should work with municipalities to reform the country’s asylum system.
One of the causes of the crisis is the lack of housing throughout the country. When asylum seekers receive refugee status, many are unable to find shelter and are forced to stay in refugee centres, which are intended to temporarily house people awaiting a decision on their asylum application.
Immigration Minister Eric van der Burg thanked Amsterdam.
“Temporary large-scale shelter is crucial to maintaining calm in the shelter,” he said.
Source: Breitbart
