“Because a number of regions are lagging behind in creating shelters, the Hub can no longer refer people to shelters elsewhere in the country and the shelters for this group in Amsterdam are overcrowded,” Groot Wassink wrote in a letter to the city council on Friday.
According to him, the Hub, the registration center for Ukrainian refugees at Central Station, faces an impossible task. The center that is now being closed can only reopen once ‘a stable supply of free shelter places has been created nationally with which we can continue with confidence for a number of months’.
Due to Amsterdam’s decision, outgoing State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum, VVD) has asked all 25 security regions to urgently arrange 200 additional emergency shelters and keep them available until January 1. This means that 5,000 extra beds should be added in the short term. Municipalities also still have to work to ensure that there are a total of 97,000 shelter places by February 1. Now there are about 83,000 beds.
Self-sustainability
Earlier this week, Security Council Chairman Wouter Kolff said that he is receiving signals that Ukrainians are traveling to the Netherlands from other EU countries. Our country is said to be ‘too attractive’ for refugees. In response, Van der Burg will look at ‘increasing self-reliance’ of Ukrainians in the near future.
According to a spokesperson, this does not mean that they will have to provide their own accommodation in the future. “It’s about more independence, such as shelter locations where people have more privacy or contribute to society by working or going to school.” Such long-term shelter is currently barely getting off the ground.
With the decision to close the Amsterdam registration center, the city council is going one step further than Utrecht, where the other registration center is. Three weeks ago, Utrecht mayor Sharon Dijksma also made an emergency call. She then wrote that if no new shelters for longer-term stays become available, there is a risk of closure. For the time being, the registration center there will remain open.
‘Take responsibility’
Refugees arrive at the registration center in Amsterdam, after which they register, can take a shower and rest and are then linked to a place in Amsterdam or elsewhere in the country.
The number of refugees from Ukraine is growing nationally by 2,000 people per month. ‘Because a number of regions are lagging behind in realizing new places, of the 90,000 planned places, only 83,000 places have been created.’ According to the councilor, 99 percent of the shelter places are now full.
Groot Wassink appeals to other municipalities in the letter: ‘Amsterdam stands for a hospitable welcome for people who need help. The intention to close the Hub is therefore difficult for us. Especially because this is not necessary if everyone nationally takes their responsibility and realizes their share of shelter places.’
Amsterdam currently accommodates 3,249 Ukrainian refugees, more than the mandatory 2,870. The closure of the Hub has no consequences for this group of people.
In September, State Secretary Van der Burg sent an appeal to mayors to quickly expand the number of shelter places and to grow in the short term to 97,000 places by early 2024.
About the author: Tim Wagemakers has been studying Amsterdam politics for almost 10 years and has been writing about it for Het Parool as a political reporter since 2022.