Government to stop funding “bed and board” for rejected refugees

The right-wing Dutch government is to stop funding any form of accommodation for asylum seekers who have been reject for residency status and ordered to leave the country, migration minister Marjolein Faber said on Wednesday.

Five big Dutch cities, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Eindhoven, operate basic shelters for failed asylum seekers to keep them off the streets and some of the funding comes from the state.

But these are people who “should have left long ago,” Faber, a minister on behalf of the far-right PVV, said. The government’s coalition agreement had indicated that the state’s contribution would end, and now the date has been set for January next year.

Faber’s predecessor Eric van der Burg also wanted to halt funding, in an effort to cut costs, but coalition partners D66 and ChristenUnie forced a change of heart last year.

The state currently puts €30 million into providing “bed, bread and baths” for failed asylum seekers, a scheme first launched in 2018. It will be up to local councils to decide if they want to take on the extra spending.

Ministers and local government officials have been grappling with the problem of failed asylum seekers for years.

At the moment, refugees who fail in their applications for asylum are evicted from refugee centres and expected to return home. Thousands have ended up living rough or in emergency accommodation run by churches and other charities.

The council shelters offer basic bed, food and board to refugees who have been living on the streets or in squats. Refugees can stay at the shelters if they agree to work towards their return.