Overview
- Het Hogeland paused its search for a new asylum center after resident talks showed insufficient support, and the municipality ended its cooperation with the external consultancy running those sessions.
- Officials in Het Hogeland cited objections to the format and records of the meetings, while noting the council’s mandate for a regular azc remains and will be re-discussed.
- Amersfoort relaunched its process to create 550 permanent reception places, opening resident input through January before the council sets location-study criteria and takes a final decision after municipal elections.
- The Amersfoort reset follows last month’s uproar over proposed sites in Vathorst and Schothorst, where demonstrations and information evenings led to multiple arrests.
- Haaksbergen’s council voted 17–2 to hold a referendum next year on location criteria for an azc, not on hosting one, as the spreidingswet obliges the municipality to accommodate 129 people; a 400–500 person protest at city hall remained peaceful.