New security measures at Ter Apel allow aid orgs to resume work

Aid organisations the Red Cross and refugee council VluchtelingenWerk are resuming their work at the Ter Apel asylum reception centre, after the government organised an indoor room to stop people gathering outside in areas around the facility.

The two organisations pulled out on Friday, saying they could no longer guarantee the safety of their staff and volunteers after weeks of violence outside the overcrowded centre, including two stabbings.

Asylum minister Bart van den Brink announced a package of measures on Monday in a letter to MPs. Asylum seekers who cannot get into the centre will now spend the day in a former identification and screening office on the same site, with room for 80 to 120 people, according to the Red Cross.

The centre has been full since May, with only vulnerable people such as women and children being admitted while others wait outside. Officials blame the trouble on some of the men who have little chance of being granted asylum.

Stop and search
The area around the centre has also been designated a security risk zone, allowing police to carry out preventive searches, a measure previously used after incidents in 2022 and 2024. Extra cameras are being installed and four additional security guards and two enforcement officers will patrol the site.

Strict house rules will apply in the day shelter, and anyone causing trouble will be banned and could face prosecution. In the evenings, asylum seekers will be bussed to emergency night shelters elsewhere in the region.

Red Cross director Harm Goossens said the building was a far more humane option than a field, but warned it remained a stopgap. “We must not forget this does not create any new reception places,” he told broadcaster NOS.

Van den Brink said the measures were temporary and the situation in Ter Apel remained “urgent and critical”, repeating his call for local authorities to offer emergency accommodation.