Urgent help needed for children in emergency asylum shelters

Children in emergency shelters are living in unsafe and dangerous conditions that violate international law, according to a two-year investigation by the Dutch Safety Board.

The organisation has been looking into the living situation for some 7,000 children who are currently living in crisis accommodations while awaiting the outcome of their asylum claims.

Children experience constant noise and a total lack of privacy in these shelters as well as a high risk of physical and sexual violence, the report found.

The safety board wants the immigration ministry to make sweeping reforms in the next six months.

“Emergency shelter is not normal. It was initially intended for a short period, but by now, children sometimes live in emergency shelters for years,” the organisation’s chairperson Chris van Dam said in a statement.

More than 60% of asylum seekers are now being housed in “emergency” shelters, like vacant offices, ships, event halls, and temporary container homes.

The safety board wants a structural solution to the shelter problems as well as improvements in emergency shelters, including setting a maximum length of stay and enforcing quality standards.