Longer stay of Ukrainian refugees in Amstelveen

The municipality has come to an agreement with the Ibis and Adagio hotels so that the refugees may continue to stay in the hotels at least until December 31, with a possibility of extension. Most of the refugees from Ukraine, including those staying with host families, have now registered with the municipality and are receiving an allowance for living expenses. Many refugees also wanted to work. Some have had an initial interview at the Werkplein facilities and some are already working.

Ukrainian children between the ages of 2-18 are attending lessons and activities organized at Uilenstede until July 15. During the summer holidays, the welfare organization Participe is organizing a summer program subsidized by the municipality for those children. The playgroups for the little ones will also continue throughout the summer. After the holidays, these children will attend regular schooling. The schools in charge of primary and secondary education will then organize the education of Ukrainian children.

Many volunteers are still intensively involved in the reception of refugees through their social organizations, such as Maccabi, the Dutch Refugee Council, Jewish Social Work, Participe and Amstelveenvoorelkaar. They organize activities and help refugees to set up their lives in our district.

Reception of asylum seekers

After having received this large number of refugees from Ukraine, the municipality has more than fulfilled the target number of refugees set by the Security Region Amsterdam-Amstelland for Amstelveen. Also, despite the tight housing market, the municipality has been meeting its target as to the accommodation of status holders. This year the municipality provided housing for 71 status holders while the target for the first half of 2022 was 67. The municipality is examining whether it can speed up the intake of another 47 status holders to meet the target for the second half of the year. If the flow of status holders to municipalities runs smoothly, we will have enough room in the asylum centers for new asylum seekers. This autumn, a small-scale reception center for Unaccompanied Minor Foreign Nationals (Alleenstaande Minderjarige Vreemdelingen, AMV) will be set up in Amstelveen with six places where these young children will live under proper guidance.

This month of June, the government adopted a national plan of action aimed at dealing with the asylum crisis. All security regions were requested to set up 225 emergency reception locations for asylum seekers, on short notice, for a period of 12 weeks. The security region Amsterdam-Amstelland (VrAA) decided to comply with this request although no crisis emergency accommodation will be provided in Amstelveen.