Netherlands struggles with 'perfect storm' of housing & migration crisis

Dutch nationals are competing with migrants for social housing places due to a lack of options.

Transcript

00:00 It wasn`t just immigration, but also a lack of affordable housing that caused Mark Rutte`s

00:05 Dutch government to collapse earlier this month.

00:08 A strong increase in asylum requests during 2022 led to the opening of some emergency

00:13 reception centers across the country.

00:16 This one in the town of Almere managed by the Dutch Red Cross in a former firehouse

00:20 hosts 150 people, mostly young men.

00:23 There were no beds, so people were staying outside. And then the Red Cross stepped in.

00:28 And since then, we have been -- we have become basically an integral part of the structure

00:34 of refugee shelter.

00:36 Here people get three meals per day and weekly spending money of just 12 euros. Some of them

00:42 have been waiting for more than a year for their asylum request to be assessed. They

00:46 can go out during the day and work for a maximum of 12 weeks per year.

00:51 But many spend their days in the center`s recreation room.

00:55 Syrians are the most common among asylum seekers here and at the national level, like Yara,

01:00 who fled the civil war in her home country.

01:06 My husband and my two kids are in Syria, and I didn`t see them since nine months, which

01:11 is so difficult for me. And until now, I have to count another year in order to see them.

01:19 I hope not to be more than one year.

01:22 Whoever is eventually granted refugee status is entitled by law to have private accommodation

01:27 and reunification with their family.

01:30 But the shortage of housing is leaving people on the waiting list and ensuring that overcrowding

01:34 at reception centers persists.

01:36 When there is no space on the ground, you look for it in the sea. The ship behind me,

01:41 which in the past was used for luxury cruises, hosts hundreds of people who are waiting for

01:46 an answer to their asylum request.

01:49 Indeed, the Dutch government tried to introduce different protection statuses in order to

01:54 avoid granting every refugee the right to immediate family reunification.

01:59 This is what split parties within the coalition.

02:02 There`s a housing crisis. There`s simply not enough affordable houses in this country,

02:09 especially in the larger cities, but basically everywhere. And this means that also there`s

02:15 a big competition between people eligible for social housing, Dutch natives, so to speak,

02:22 are eligible for social housing. That`s competition between those needs and those of recognized

02:29 refugees.

02:30 According to Professor Dumenick, this type of perfect storm, also caused by inflation

02:34 and environmental issues, is preventing new houses from being built. And it`s also what

02:39 created the tensions under which the government fell at the beginning of July.

02:43 And it`s likely to influence the next elections in late November.

02:47 Thank you.