Dutch under pressure to rectify 'inhumane' conditions at asylum seeker centre
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Loading... - Sagesse Toguo
- 26 Aug 2022
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Pressure rose on the Dutch government on Friday to tackle what refugee advocates have called "inhumane" conditions at its main shelter for asylum seekers as humanitarian group Medecins sans Frontieres sent in a team to assist with medical needs.
It was the first time that MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders and mostly active in poor developing nations, was working in the Netherlands, a wealthy European Union state, the MSF emergency coordinator at the shelter said.
"The asylum-seekers here live in dismal, primitive circumstances," Monique Nagelkerke said, referring in part to more than 700 asylum seekers who have been sleeping rough outside the reception centre in Ter Apel in recent weeks.
Dutch broadcaster RTL Nieuws reported earlier on Friday that the government planned to rectify conditions by increasing the centre's capacity and ordering regional authorities to take in more refugees, citing a leaked plan.
That followed the death of a 3-month-old baby at the Ter Apel shelter this week, which drew international concern.
"We are stuck, we don't know where to go," said Mortad, 25, who came from Yemen and has been sleeping outside the centre for 11 days, through both a heatwave and thunderstorms. Read More...
