Night shelter in Ter Apel reaches its limit again
The temporary sites in Warffum and Zuidwolde were full on the night from Wednesday to Thursday.
The night shelter for asylum seekers without a place to sleep in Ter Apel has once again reached maximum capacity. The Red Cross expected heavy pressure again on Thursday evening, while daytime reception at the site filled up several times.
There was room for one hundred people in both Warffum and Zuidwolde on the night from Wednesday to Thursday. Both sites were full, the Red Cross reported through ANP. This left little room for new arrivals if more people without a place to stay arrived at the registration centre later in the evening.
The reception facility in Zuidwolde has been set up as a temporary night site for people who undergo their asylum procedure in Ter Apel during the day. The municipality of De Wolden is making a maximum of one hundred sleeping places available there until 30 September inclusive. People are brought by bus in the evening and return the following morning.
Warffum serves as a backup facility for Zuidwolde. The municipality of Het Hogeland has made the Op Roakeldaishal available for this purpose, but is using tents on the site because of renovation work. The site is intended for a maximum of one hundred people and is open from 11 September to 11 October.
During the day, people without a bed can go to an empty office building on the registration centre site. According to earlier information from the Red Cross, it has room for 120 people. That facility filled up several times on Thursday, forcing dozens of people to wait outside on the site.
The temporary sites do not prevent pressure on Ter Apel from continuing. They provide only a place to sleep for one night and do not add structural reception capacity. The municipalities and the Red Cross therefore stress that emergency reception remains a temporary solution to a problem that must be resolved nationally.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- The temporary night shelters in Warffum and Zuidwolde have a combined maximum capacity of two hundred places.
- The sites are intended for people who have no place to sleep in Ter Apel.
- The reception sites are temporary and do not replace structural reception.
Left
Arguments The situation shows that people seeking protection are entitled to permanent, humane reception. Temporary tents and night-time transfers merely shift the problem.
Values Human dignity, solidarity and equal responsibility among municipalities.
Consequences Without structural expansion, people will remain uncertain and the hardest-hit regions will continue to bear the problem.
Centre
Arguments Emergency reception is defensible as long as it immediately prevents people from sleeping outside, but it must be part of a plan with permanent capacity and clear funding.
Values Practical feasibility, legal certainty and administrative responsibility.
Consequences A temporary solution can bring calm, but without follow-up measures it will be extended again and again.
Right
Arguments The continuing pressure on Ter Apel shows that arrivals and procedures need to be managed better before new reception sites are opened.
Values Limits to capacity, national coordination and manageability.
Consequences From this perspective, more temporary reception could keep the system going if arrivals and departures are not addressed at the same time.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The article's core is based on a current ANP report and municipal information. The structural significance of emergency reception is clearly presented as interpretation.
- confirmed Warffum and Zuidwolde were full on the night from Wednesday to Thursday. — Reported by the Red Cross through ANP. source
- confirmed Both sites have room for one hundred people. — Confirmed by the current ANP report and municipal information. source
- confirmed Warffum is a backup facility for Zuidwolde. — The municipality of Het Hogeland describes Warffum as a backup site. source
- confirmed The daytime reception facility has room for 120 people and filled up. — Reported in the current ANP publication. source
Editor's note
The maximum capacities, the temporary duration and the function of Warffum and Zuidwolde are certain. The current figures are based on the Red Cross report through ANP; a separate daily report from COA was not available.Sources
- Nachtopvanglocaties Rode Kruis in Warffum en Zuidwolde vol — NL Vandaag / ANP
- Vragen en antwoorden over de nachtopvang in Zuidwolde — Gemeente De Wolden
- Tijdelijke nachtopvang — Gemeente Het Hogeland
- Rode Kruis hervat werk bij Ter Apel op nieuwe plek — Rode Kruis Nederland