There are not enough places in the refugee shelters in the Netherlands to receive all the applicants for temporary protection, most of whom are currently Ukrainians. To reduce the demand for accommodation in shelters, some facilities are already refusing accommodation to men and couples without children. Now Ukrainians who have already found a job, but are still living in a shelter, will be obliged to pay for housing for refugees.
The municipal authorities of the city of Hilversum declared the need to make a “personal contribution” to the maintenance of shelters on the part of refugees. There are two reception centers for migrants.
“By asking for a voluntary contribution, we want the residents of the reception centers to know about the costs of their stay and make a contribution to the reception of Ukrainians themselves. We are going to implement this obligation pragmatically, without administrative and personnel burden.”, – informed the city hall.
It is worth noting that for now such a personal contribution will be voluntary. It can be paid by those who want to help with the maintenance of refugee shelters. The amount of the contribution is arbitrary. In addition, no one will control whether Ukrainians have paid into the asylum fund.
However, the Ministry of Security and Justice of the Netherlands is currently considering relevant changes in the legislation. And although this process will last several months, it is likely that by the fall, the payment for staying in shelters for working refugees will become mandatory across the country.
We will remind you that in March 2024, the largest absolute increase in the number of Ukrainian refugees was observed in Germany. According to the data Eurostat report, 15,200 of our fellow citizens came there during the month. Thus, there were +1.2% more Ukrainians with protection status in Germany. The number of refugees in the Netherlands (+4.7 thousand, or +4.0%) and Bulgaria (+3.48 thousand, or +7.6%) also increased significantly.
