The municipality of Epe has decided to enforce a penalty payment order against the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA). The decision follows the agency’s failure to close an emergency shelter at the Fletcher Hotel on time. The municipal council has given the agency one extra week to terminate the shelter. From 22 April, the COA will have to pay 63,480 euros per day, up to a maximum of 11.4 million euros.
For now, no penalty payment will be imposed on the Fletcher Hotel. Epe had previously said it also wanted compensation from the hotel chain. However, the owner has stated that the agreement with the COA has been dissolved and that the hotel is “actively contributing to ending the situation”. A new decision on possible penalties for the hotel will be made in six weeks.
Mayor Tom Horn said Fletcher also has a responsibility to end the reception. He added that he assumes the hotel is in talks with the COA to ensure this can happen as soon as possible.
Epe had already announced plans to impose penalty payments. The decision followed the failure to close the emergency shelter as agreed on Friday, 20 March. On 19 March, the Municipal Executive said the continued use of the hotel as emergency accommodation was unacceptable. According to the COA, however, there is currently no alternative location for the 276 asylum seekers staying at the hotel on the Veluwe.
Untenable situation
Horn said he understands that pressure on asylum reception is high. “At the same time, residents and business owners can expect us to uphold agreements,” he said. “This decision is not directed against the people staying in emergency shelter, but against a situation that is no longer legally and administratively tenable.”
The emergency shelter may have to close. As a result, Epe will fall short of the number of asylum seekers it is required to accommodate under the Distribution Act. “We are currently looking for a permanent location,” Horn said. “This is an emergency shelter. It is a facility that we urgently need. It is also the only large hotel in Epe, and it must become available again for the tourism sector.”
Earlier, the municipality of Westerwolde imposed penalty payments on the COA. The registration centre in Ter Apel is located in that municipality, and Hardenberg took a similar step. Those amounts were lower than the fine set by Epe. According to Horn, the COA receives a higher fee for emergency accommodation, making the penalty “reasonable and proportionate”. He added that the municipal executive is not “waiting for money, but for the agreements to be honoured”.
@anp | NEWS BRAINPORT
