The rapid(er) realization of new reception locations for asylum seekers

It will not have escaped anyone's notice that the Netherlands faced a huge influx of asylum seekers in the year 2015, partly due to the ongoing war in Syria. This influx also greatly increased the need for suitable reception facilities. On September 9 of this year, a regulation came into effect that aims to give governments better opportunities to respond quickly and adequately to this increasing need for reception locations. It is high time to draw attention to this regulation.

The "problem

Back to the "problem" for a moment. The law stipulates that asylum seekers are required to be accommodated until such time as an asylum seeker is granted a residence permit or, if no residence permit is granted, during the time he has been given to leave the country. One of the tasks of the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) is to ensure that there are always enough reception locations. Whereas in March 2014 there were still about 15,000 asylum seekers staying in COA's reception facilities, by the end of 2014 the number had risen to about 25,000. In December 2015, the counter now stands at around 50,000, according to COA figures.

For COA, the sharp increase means that a great deal of effort is required to find sufficient reception capacity. COA is often dependent on the cooperation of municipalities in this respect. The use of land and buildings as reception locations for asylum seekers is often not allowed from a planning perspective. Despite the fact that this cooperation is obtained in most cases, the exponential and rapid growth in the number of asylum seekers means that COA must have sufficient reception capacity (even more) quickly.

The legislature judged that measures were necessary. In fact, the law could provide (even) more support in quickly realizing reception options. This led to amended regulations, which made two changes.

Regulatory amendment

A first change is that the scope of Section 4(9) of Annex II of the Environmental Law Decree has been broadened. This article makes it possible to permit a different use of structures within a short period of time.

With the application of this provision, an environmental permit may be granted within 8 weeks for "the use of structures, possibly in connection with construction activities that do not increase the built-up area or building volume, and of land adjacent to those structures, provided that, insofar as located outside the built-up area, it concerns exclusively an accommodation function for workers or the reception of asylum seekers or other categories of aliens."

The underlined addition makes it possible, as of September 9, that recreational parks or office buildings located outside built-up areas can also be made suitable for the reception of asylum seekers. With this, a large part of the vacant buildings there can suddenly become usable. This possibility already existed for buildings within built-up areas. Obviously, other regulations must also be complied with when granting an environmental permit for a new reception location. In particular, fire safety requirements may come to mind. This means that not every vacant industrial building can simply be used as a reception location.

A second change relates to the fact that the task of coping with the influx of asylum seekers need not only take place at the municipal level, but that provincial or national interests may also be involved. The legislator wanted to respond to this by including in the law that the authority to grant such an environmental permit can shift from the mayor and aldermen to the province (deputy states) or the minister. In the case of such a shift in authority, however, it will have to be justified why there is a provincial or national interest in that situation. The basic principle remains that the Municipal Executive is the body authorized to grant such an environmental permit.

Creating social support

Finally, given the possible social resistance to new reception locations, it goes without saying that it is desirable to communicate transparently about the possible arrival of a reception location and, if the environmental permit is granted, to provide adequate justification. In particular, attention should be paid to the effects of a reception location on the living environment of local residents.

Whether these expanded regulations have adequately addressed the overall demand for suitable shelter locations remains to be seen, but it is certainly clear that the problem has been faced.