Dutch asylum agency is fined 50,000 euros daily for an overcrowded center

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch court on Wednesday ordered the agency responsible for housing asylum-seekers to pay a 50,000-euro ($54,000) penalty for every day that more than 2,000 migrants stay at an overcrowded center in the northern Netherlands that has become a symbol for the country’s clogged asylum system.

The municipality that is home to the Ter Apel center brought a summary case against the organization in a bid to force it to relocate migrants to prevent breaches of a 2010 agreement that set 2,000 people as the maximum capacity.

The case comes amid a heated national debate on migration and moves by the hard-right dominated Dutch government to scrap a law that compels municipalities to house asylum-seekers.

Ter Apel is the most high profile example of a Dutch asylum system that is burdened with lengthy legal battles by migrants seeking to stay in the country and growing opposition to centers housing them.

In 2022, hundreds of migrants were forced to sleep outdoors near the Ter Apel center in squalid conditions and Dutch aid agencies scrambled to provide medical and other assistance. The situation has improved little since then with regular overcrowding.

The Northern Netherlands District Court ordered the accommodation organization, known by its Dutch acronym COA, to bring the number of asylum-seekers in Ter Apel below 2,000 within two weeks. If it fails, the organization will have to pay a 50,000-euro penalty each day the number is exceeded up to a maximum of 5 million euros.

In January, the same court made a similar order, but imposed a penalty of 15,000 euros per day up to a maximum of 1.5 million euros.

There was no immediate reaction from COA or the municipality to Wednesday’s court ruling.

It came days after the ruling coalition announced unprecedented measures aimed at reining in migration, including a reintroduction of border checks, making the Netherlands the latest European nation to take a hard-line stance against migration as anti-foreigner sentiment surges throughout much of the continent.

The four-party coalition was formed after months of wrangling that followed a stunning election victory for Geert Wilders ‘ Party for Freedom that campaigned on pledges to drastically reduce migration.

The announcement comes a week after European Union leaders looked at ways to tackle migration and turn the 27-nation bloc into a Fortress Europe after years of striking a more welcoming tone. Germany, one of the Netherlands’ neighbors, also recently reintroduced some border checks and the new French government has also pledged a tougher approach to migration.

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Follow AP’s coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

Mike Corder, The Associated Press