New Reception Center For Asylum Seekers In Alkmaar Should Relieve Ter Apel

The former tax office in Alkmaar is to become a new reception location for asylum seekers. This should relieve the Ter Apel application center. Last summer, hundreds of people slept outside because there was no room inside.

The office in Alkmaar is in the picture to become a so-called Central Reception Location (COL), reports the municipality of Almaar. Asylum seekers can go there after they have registered in Ter Apel. In Alkmaar, an identity check (by the aliens police), an intake (by the immigration service) and a health check will follow. There will be room for 250 asylum seekers, who should travel on to the next azc after a week to take the next step in their asylum procedure.

“On February 20, 2023, the mayor and aldermen will ask the city council what they think of this idea. If the council thinks it’s a good idea, we will talk to the neighborhood, companies and other organizations,” the municipality of Alkmaar reported on Friday afternoon.

Protest in Bant

Currently, the identification process can only take place in azc Budel, except in Ter Apel. The cabinet is still looking for a fourth location. It should ensure that asylum seekers have to stay in Ter Apel for less time. The government initially had a location in Bant (Noordoostpolder) in mind, but there was a lot of resistance in the village to the arrival of a new asylum center.

In Alkmaar there already seems to be a majority in the city council, says alderman Joël Voordewind (asylum affairs). “We all saw the images from Ter Apel last summer. And we have room here,” says the former member of parliament for the ChristenUnie. “We do stick our necks out, because municipalities are often not waiting for asylum seekers who have just arrived and still need to be checked.”

According to the new distribution law for asylum reception, Alkmaar should receive about 450 asylum seekers. The municipality will now ask the cabinet whether it can stay with the 250 residents of the COL.