The District Court of Northern Netherlands in Groningen ruled in a case concerning preliminary relief in summary proceedings brought by the municipality of Westerwolde against the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Centraal Orgaan opvang asielzoekers‚ COA).

The preliminary relief judge noted that it was agreed several times that the COA will not accommodate more than 2,000 people in the reception location in Ter Apel (in the 2010 administrative agreement between the municipality and the COA and then in April 2023). The preliminary relief judge did not agree with the COA’s argument that this would be unreasonable and unfair, as all the circumstances that the COA put forward had already been taken into account during the mediation process in 2023, which was led by the National Ombudsperson.

The COA also argued that there was insufficient capacity to accommodate asylum applicants because insufficient municipalities were prepared to make it available and municipalities could not be forced to do so. The court ruled that this cannot be attributed to the municipality of Westerwolde but to the COA, because the number of existing reception locations in the Netherlands has been structurally reduced since 2016.

The COA also argued that granting the claim of the municipality would lead to asylum seekers having to sleep outside again, to which the court pointed out that on the basis of various international treaties, the COA/the State must guarantee that this situation is prevented and that this is not the responsibility of the municipality of Westerwolde.

The court further ruled that it was in the interest of the COA that municipalities would be prepared to enter into agreements on the reception of asylum seekers and that this willingness is expected to be closely related to the confidence of municipalities that the COA will also comply with such agreements.

Thus, the court decided that COA must adhere to the maximum occupancy of 2,000 asylum seekers at the Ter Apel location agreed with the municipality during the mediation process led by the National Ombudsman and that failure to do so carries a penalty of €15,000 per day with a maximum of €1,500,000.

The COA was given four weeks to comply with the order.