Two-thirds of Dutch people want the government to temporarily stop accepting asylum seekers, the NlTimes news portal wrote, citing a poll by the news program EenVandaag.

78 percent of the approximately 28,000 respondents are concerned about the reception crisis in the Netherlands. Some are concerned that the registration center in Ter Apel, the country's largest refugee accommodation, has been overcrowded for months and refugees are living in inhumane conditions. Others are concerned that accommodating refugees will cause further tensions in the ever-shrinking housing market. A survey published on the EenVandaag website reveals that many people feel it is unfair that refugees have priority in accessing social housing.

The majority, 61 percent of the respondents, are in principle in favor of accepting those fleeing the war, but they do not support the government's plans to solve the crisis. The Dutch cabinet is working on preparing a law that would oblige municipalities to accept refugees regardless of their country of origin.

55 percent of those who took part in the survey oppose this idea. 69 percent of those surveyed would support the government temporarily stopping the reception of asylum seekers, however, according to State Secretary for Refugees Eric van der Burg, this is against international law and the Dutch Immigration Law.

The Dutch government has been facing a crisis for several months, because it cannot provide enough accommodation for the refugees arriving in the country. Due to the lack of space, unlivable conditions have developed in the refugee centers, and because of this, a refugee rights organization is threatening the Hague administration with a lawsuit. The asylum crisis is also aggravated by the fact that the national asylum agency is struggling with a lack of capacity and manpower. According to local papers, the organization is on the verge of collapse, with around a thousand vacant jobs.

The situation is similar in the Dutch immigration office, where there is not enough money and manpower to function properly, so the processing of asylum applications has been stalled for a long time.
Source: MTI
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