Asylum and Migration
'Unsafe' shelter in halls and hotels by COA continues to mask structural problems of asylum accommodation
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The Council for Child Protection (OVV) reports that the Netherlands’ asylum system is heavily reliant on temporary emergency housing, such as container homes and event halls, which masks long-term structural deficits. The OVV warns that this reliance causes structural neglect, particularly affecting 7,000 children exposed to privacy violations and frequent relocations. Minister Bart van den Brink aims to eliminate emergency shelters but faces insufficient regular capacity, forcing municipalities to provide more temporary spots. The report identifies root causes including a tight housing market, slow IND processing times, and COA’s bed-based funding model, which prevents reserve capacity buildup. To address these issues, the Jetten cabinet has revived the distribution law, threatening administrative intervention against municipalities refusing to offer required shelter.
Ozetta summarises; the reporting is the newsroom's