An estimated 3,100 asylum seekers have arrived in the Netherlands over the past week and have reported to the registration centre in Ter Apel, a spokesman for the refugee settlement agency COA said on Sunday.

In the two preceding weeks, some 1,800 people were registered as asylum seekers, the spokesman said.

The increase in refugee numbers is now so great that extra emergency accommodation is being opened. Soldiers are currently preparing to house 500 people at an army barracks in Oirschot, near Tilburg, the Telegraaf said on Sunday.

The IJsselhall convention centre in Zwolle is also being converted into a hostel for 300 people.

Some 24,000 refugees came to the Netherlands last year. The Dutch government has also agreed to take over 2,000 more refugees under a Brussels’ plan to spread asylum seekers around the EU and relieve the pressure on Mediterranean countries.

The government says a request to take a further 7,000 depends on Europe agreeing that all refugees should in principle be housed in their own region.