Newly arrived asylum seekers on their way to the application centre in the Groningen village of Ter Apel, the Netherlands, in October 2021. EPA
Newly arrived asylum seekers on their way to the application centre in the Groningen village of Ter Apel, the Netherlands, in October 2021. EPA
Newly arrived asylum seekers on their way to the application centre in the Groningen village of Ter Apel, the Netherlands, in October 2021. EPA
Newly arrived asylum seekers on their way to the application centre in the Groningen village of Ter Apel, the Netherlands, in October 2021. EPA

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Europe

Court orders Dutch government to improve conditions at asylum centres

All migrants must now have a 'safe, covered sleeping place, food, water and access to hygienic sanitary facilities'

Soraya Ebrahimi
Soraya Ebrahimi

October 06, 2022

  • English
  • Arabic

A Dutch court has ordered the government to improve conditions at overcrowded migration centres where asylum seekers have been staying in unsanitary conditions.

After a crisis this year in which hundreds of migrants were forced to sleep outdoors while their claims were processed, a legal case was brought by the Dutch Council for Refugees on human rights grounds.

"The State … has the obligation to receive asylum seekers in a dignified manner," a judge at The Hague District Court said.

Conditions at the Ter Apel centre near the northern city of Groningen, where more than 700 people spent weeks sleeping rough outside the gates and other locations this summer, "do not meet those standards in parts".

The ruling noted that people at the Ter Apel camp repeatedly "slept outside, or inside on the floor or on chairs and without sufficient hygienic sanitary facilities".

The head of the Dutch Council for Refugees, Frank Candel, said it was a "clear and necessary decision".

Migrant crossings on the English Channel surge amid heatwave - in pictures

The number of migrants crossing the English Channel from northern Europe has reached record-breaking figures as people in Britain are experiencing an exceptionally hot summer. PA
The number of migrants crossing the English Channel from northern Europe has reached record-breaking figures as people in Britain are experiencing an exceptionally hot summer. PA
A lady carries a toddler to a bus after a group of people thought to be migrants were brought in to Dover, Kent, on the south-east English coast. PA
A lady carries a toddler to a bus after a group of people thought to be migrants were brought in to Dover, Kent, on the south-east English coast. PA
A group of migrants are brought in to Ramsgate, Kent, on August 1 - the day on which almost 700 migrants crossed the Channel to the UK in a single day, a record for the year so far. PA
A group of migrants are brought in to Ramsgate, Kent, on August 1 - the day on which almost 700 migrants crossed the Channel to the UK in a single day, a record for the year so far. PA
It was only the second time in 2022 that the daily figure has topped 600. PA
It was only the second time in 2022 that the daily figure has topped 600. PA
A woman carries a newborn baby in a life cradle as she is brought in to Dover on a Border Force vessel in July. PA
A woman carries a newborn baby in a life cradle as she is brought in to Dover on a Border Force vessel in July. PA
About 3,683 migrants made the crossing on 90 boats in July, the highest monthly total this year. PA
About 3,683 migrants made the crossing on 90 boats in July, the highest monthly total this year. PA
A warehouse in Dover for boats used by people trying to cross the Channel. PA
A warehouse in Dover for boats used by people trying to cross the Channel. PA
Migrants hold up an inflatable boat before attempting to cross the Channel to Britain, near the northern French city of Gravelines, in July. AFP
Migrants hold up an inflatable boat before attempting to cross the Channel to Britain, near the northern French city of Gravelines, in July. AFP
A police officer stands guard on the beach at Dungeness, England, as migrants get off a lifeboat after they were picked up at sea in June. AFP
A police officer stands guard on the beach at Dungeness, England, as migrants get off a lifeboat after they were picked up at sea in June. AFP
A group of people thought to be migrants walk up the beach after being brought in to Dungeness in May. AP
A group of people thought to be migrants walk up the beach after being brought in to Dungeness in May. AP
Migrants on the beach at Dungeness, after crossing the English Channel in an inflatable dinghy in January. Reuters
Migrants on the beach at Dungeness, after crossing the English Channel in an inflatable dinghy in January. Reuters

But M Candel said the group "will not be happy until no asylum-seeker has to sleep in a tent, sports hall or hallway any more".

Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontiers went to the centre this summer after a three-month old baby died there from unknown causes, and aid agencies warned of a looming humanitarian emergency.

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The court said the government now had to ensure that all people at migrant centres had a "safe, covered sleeping place, food, water and access to hygienic sanitary facilities."

"Some standards must be met immediately, others within the shortest possible reasonable time," the court said.

There was no immediate reaction from the Dutch government.

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Updated: October 06, 2022, 10:21 PM`
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