The Red Cross said it can no longer guarantee the safety of its workers at the overcrowded Ter Apel registration center after harassment, repeated fights and multiple stabbing incidents.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
TER APEL, Netherlands — The Red Cross has stopped deploying aid workers to the Netherlands’ primary asylum registration center after concluding that conditions at the overcrowded site had become too dangerous for its employees.
The charity said “safety can no longer be guaranteed” at the Ter Apel asylum registration and application center, where migrants begin the process of seeking asylum in the Netherlands.
Red Cross personnel, including emergency responders, had been providing food, water, blankets and other assistance to migrants forced to remain outside the facility. The organization said its workers had recently been harassed by a small group of men and feared that the situation could escalate further.
“This is a very drastic decision. We realise what this means for the people we help. But we have no other choice, because a small group of troublemakers is causing insecurity for both our aid workers and those seeking help. Therefore, a structural solution is now needed,” local Red Cross director Harm Goossens said.
The decision comes as the Ter Apel center faces persistent overcrowding and worsening security problems.
The facility has reportedly been operating beyond capacity since approximately mid-May, leaving dozens of asylum seekers outside during the day. Many had depended on the Red Cross for basic supplies while waiting on the grounds in front of the registration center.
Goossens said the central problem could not be resolved without creating additional places for migrants elsewhere.
“That is the only solution. We have been providing assistance for seven weeks now on the grounds in front of the registration centre. People are moving from place to place, spending hours on the grass, even in extreme weather conditions such as heat or heavy rain. This has to change,” he said.
Goossens called on local governments throughout the Netherlands to offer emergency accommodation and reduce pressure on Ter Apel.
“I want to make an urgent appeal to all municipalities in the Netherlands: step forward and provide an emergency shelter location. Such a location offers breathing space for Ter Apel and ensures that people have a safe place during the day as well. We are talking about several dozen people per day, in a country with 18 million inhabitants,” he added.
The Dutch newspaper Telegraaf reported that overcrowding had forced asylum seekers to remain outside for extended periods and rely on the Red Cross for water, food and blankets.
A Nigerian asylum seeker told the newspaper that he did not know how people at the center would manage without the organization’s assistance. He also acknowledged that conflict and unpredictable behavior had become common.
“Every day there is a fight. People with severe mental problems are placed among ordinary people. When you say hello to someone, you don’t even know how they will react. And before you know it, there’s a fight,” he said.
Several stabbing incidents were reported at the center during the previous week.
One occurred shortly before a planned visit by Asylum Minister Bart van den Brink, forcing officials to delay his arrival at the facility.
A former security guard who worked at Ter Apel said his experience at the center changed his views about the asylum system.
“The first week you work there, you feel sorry for the people walking around,” he said. “After fourteen days, you start to scratch your head. And after about five or six weeks, you think: this doesn’t belong here.”
Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom, responded to the continuing violence by calling for the closure of every asylum center in the country and the deportation of people he described as “asylum profiteers.”
Wilders said the government should proceed regardless of legal or judicial resistance.
“No whining about laws, treaties or judges, JUST DO IT! Necessity breaks the law!” Wilders wrote.
The Red Cross did not say when its personnel might return to Ter Apel. The organization said a lasting solution would require additional shelter capacity and safer conditions for both aid workers and the migrants seeking assistance.
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