Anti-refugee centre parties are taking the lead in forming a new coalition council in at least 43 of the 342 Dutch local authority areas, according to research published on Friday by the NRC.
The parties emerged as the biggest after the March 18 vote, and that means they have a key role in putting together local administrations.
This situation, the paper says, could mean 13,000 potential or actual beds for refugees may be put on ice or cancelled altogether because of local opposition.
The development of new refugee centres was a key issue in many local council votes, and settlement agency COA said a month prior to the election that 6,000 beds were in doubt because of the pending elections.
That led asylum minister Bart van den Brink to make an urgent appeal to all local authorities to provide more accommodation.
According to legislation aimed at ensuring all local councils take in their fair share of refugees, the Netherlands’ municipalities have until December 1 to submit their plans to the government.
The NRC said in January that 100 of the Netherlands’ 342 local authority areas have still failed to provide any beds at all, even though the legislation requires every town and village to do its bit.
However, problems are already emerging, the NRC said. In Maasluis, near Rotterdam, for example, Leefbaar Maessluys won 11 of the 26 council seats and plans to cancel an agreement to house some refugees on ships.
In Sliedrecht, Slydregt.NU won the local vote and wants to cancel a draft contract with COA. The situation is similar in Hardenberg, where Doen’22 won 10 of the 33 seats.
“We’ve had the biggest refugee centre in the province for the past 10 years,” local party chief Piet-Cees van der Wel told the NRC. “We don’t have to be embarrassed about saying ‘not now’.”
