Van den Brink steps up pressure on councils to house refugees

Ten municipalities have been placed under extra supervision by asylum minister Bart van den Brink after they failed to meet their quota for housing asylum seekers.

Van den Brink said he would be inviting the councils for talks at his ministry to identify locations where refugees can be accommodated.

Under the so-called “spreading law”, the government can ultimately go over the heads of local authorities and designate buildings as refugee hostels.

The ultimate sanction is the last in a six-stage process for dealing with councils that fail to meet their legal obligations. Extra supervision is step three.

The ten councils are Aalten, Achtkarspelen, Bergen (Limburg), Beverwijk, Gemert-Bakel, Overbetuwe, Sluis, Valkenswaard, Voerendaal and Westland.

All municipalities have to take in a proportionate share of asylum seekers, a move intended to stop overcrowding at the reception centre in Ter Apel because the accommodation service COA cannot move them on.

Some political parties, including the far-right Forum voor Democratie, won seats in the local elections in March with a pledge to defy the government’s rules or lobby for an exemption from The Hague, even though no such mechanism exists.

“The spreading law is in force and we are implementing it,” Van den Brink said. “As part of that process, we will speak to councils that do not abide by their legal obligations. Obviously I hope I can make a deal with these municipalities, because everyone has to do their bit.”