Overview
- Occupancy at the Ter Apel asylum centre climbed for a third straight day to 2,167, surpassing the agreed cap of 2,000.
- Exceeding the limit reactivates a €50,000 daily penalty payable by COA to Westerwolde, bringing cumulative fines to €1.4 million.
- COA attributes the pressure to insufficient throughput to other reception sites and the inability of recognized refugees to move into regular housing.
- Mayor Jaap Velema calls the situation dramatic and unacceptable, urging the national government to deliver structural solutions and implement the spreidingswet.
- The large winter emergency site in Biddinghuizen is now full after briefly easing pressure, leaving Ter Apel once again over capacity.