The Central Authority for Receiving Refugees in the Netherlands (Centraal Orgaan opvang asielzoekers - COA) will be able to accommodate a thousand refugees on a cruise ship in the city of Velsen-Noord, located in North Holland. This decision was made by the court. Prior to this, entrepreneurs tried to ban the COA from placing refugees on the ship.
Immediately make a reservation that we are not talking about Ukrainians. Residents of Ukraine who fled to the Netherlands from the war have a different status - they are under temporary EU protection. The Netherlands traditionally receives a significant number of refugees, but due to restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic, this flow has decreased. After the restrictions were lifted, the flow increased. The Ter Apel camp is unable to accommodate the refugees, and the COA has come up with a temporary solution to house some of the asylum seekers on a cruise ship.
However, entrepreneurs from North Holland tried to block this decision through the courts. They initiated preliminary legal proceedings, stating that the area where the refugees were located was not safe for them to stay, that there were companies nearby whose activities could threaten the refugees. However, the judge considered these arguments unfounded - in addition, he stated that the violation of the interests of entrepreneurs is not as important as the opportunity to provide shelter to refugees in a critical situation. Now 1000 asylum seekers will receive temporary accommodation in Velsen Nord.
The COA did not take care to issue an environmental permit for the accommodation of refugees in a timely manner, but the municipality (gemeente) of Velsen-Nord agreed to tolerate this violation.
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Publication Date: 04.10.2022
