The initiators of New Neighbours Utrecht, colleague Tamer Allaloush and Wim Datema spoke at NPO Radio 1 about how we can contribute to a more positive image of shelters. This in response to the court case against the arrival of an AZC in Den Bosch.
Getting to know each other
New Neighbours Utrecht has been around for about 8 years now and is an initiative 'for and by Utrechters and their new neighbors, such as refugees, status holders, foreign students and anyone new'. And is aimed at people getting to know each other, in their own neighborhood, from both sides.
The initiative helps new neighbors build a network, welcome, participate in activities and start integrating.
"Who comes to live here, what do they bring, how can we connect? Contact with the neighborhood is very important. People can get to know each other from both sides and then the excitement for neighborhood residents goes away,'"
Wim Datema
Contact with the neighborhood
There is often fear and prejudice surrounding the arrival of an AZC. This is also due to poor reporting and the role of the media, which often puts an incident under a magnifying glass. It is important to mention that things are going well almost everywhere. In Utrecht, for example, there is a shelter that has existed for 30 years, is located in the middle of a residential area and has close ties with the neighborhood.
Or take the example of Marineterrein Amsterdam, where there was an emergency shelter for 260 people and many valuable contacts and joint activities with local residents arose. When closure threatened, the neighborhood committee wrote a letter to the Minister, State Secretary and alderman "We want our refugees back.
"We are real people and sometimes you have to take initiative to welcome us. Plan Einstein is a great example, or the municipality that opened a shelter itself. Then people can participate in society from day one. And immediately start working or volunteering, instead of waiting for procedures or systemic problems."
Tamer Allaloush
Good information
Besides contact with the neighborhood and a positive role of the media, administrators and mayors can play an important role. For example, by not denying residents' fears, but providing good education in which you explain things well and answer the questions people have.
From the letter to the Minister of Defense: "We want our refugees back at the Navy Yard"
We all know the situation in which refugees are received in the Netherlands, the shortage of places so that some have to bivouac in tents [...] or as in Ter Apel, where refugees had to sleep in the open in the rain and cold and Doctors Without Borders had to reach out to them because of health problems. There is unwillingness to provide proper shelter and in very many cases residents turn against the arrival of refugees in their area.
Let's turn that around and put the demand on the table from our Islands that we want our refugees back at the Navy Yard and that Defense must open the gate again for them.
Want to know more?
Listen to the entire interview at NPO
