Amsterdam to house migrants on cruise ship moored in port

Amsterdam has approved a plan to temporarily accommodate at least 1,000 migrants on a cruise ship anchored in the Dutch capital’s port.

The move comes as the Netherlands seeks to end an accommodation crisis that saw hundreds of asylum seekers sleeping outside reception centres last week.

According to an agreement between the city of Amsterdam and the central government, the ship will be anchored in Amsterdam for at least six months.

It is the second Dutch city to approve a plan to place migrants on cruise ships.

In both cases, boats will be moored so residents can come and go at any time.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Friday he was ashamed of the situation at the asylum reception centre in the remote northeastern village of Ter Apel, where 700 migrants had to sleep outdoors in unsanitary conditions because there was no space inside.

The Dutch branch of MSF has sent a team to a refugee camp to provide medical assistance to migrants, the agency’s first deployment in the Netherlands.

“The situation in Ter Appel is heartbreaking. Together we must address the shortage of accommodation so refugees can find a place,” said Amsterdam City Councillor Rutger Groot Wassink.

Mr Groot Wassink called the cruise ship, which is not yet in Amsterdam but due to start on October 1, a temporary short-term solution, and said the Dutch government needed to work with municipalities to reform the country’s asylum system.

One of the reasons for the crisis is a nationwide housing shortage.

Once asylum seekers are granted refugee status, many are unable to find shelter and have to stay in refugee centres, which simply provide temporary accommodation for those awaiting decisions on their asylum claims.

Eric van der Burg, the minister responsible for immigration, thanked Amsterdam.

“Temporary mass accommodation is very important to restore calm in sheltered accommodation,” he said.