Police clear Amsterdam refugee camp

A protest camp in Amsterdam that was home to around 100 failed asylum seekers was cleared by police on Friday morning following a court order.


Several dozen police arrived at the camp close to a school in Osdorp in the early hours of Friday morning. Some 95 of the refugees were taken by bus to a police station after they refused to leave the area but the arrests were peaceful, local media report.
Some 80 supporters of the camp’s residents had gathered at the site but were kept away by police, including a number on horseback.
Judges
Judges ruled on Wednesday the camp must go because of concerns about hygiene and the nuisance to neighbours and Amsterdam’s mayor Eberhard van der Laan gave the residents until Friday morning to comply.
Van der Laan has come up with temporary accommodation to house the refugees while their cases are being re-examined.
The camp was set up in September by a group of some 40 failed asylum seekers who argue they cannot return to their home countries, either because it is unsafe or because they have no papers.
Under Dutch asylum rules, failed asylum seekers are not entitled to any help with housing unless they agree to work towards their return.

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