King visits Leersum asylum centre, home to about 500
King Willem-Alexander said on Tuesday that the asylum seekers' centre in Leersum, in the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug, shows that reception can sometimes go very well.
King Willem-Alexander visited the asylum seekers' centre (azc) in Leersum on Tuesday. It was his first visit there. He has previously visited the application centre in Ter Apel and the emergency shelter at De Harskamp.
Afterwards the king said the invitation was important "to show how an azc can be integrated into the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug for more than 35 years". About 500 asylum seekers live at the centre.
He praised the way problems, "which also exist", can be discussed at the centre. He said the asylum seekers who live, work and spend their free time there can be received in a dignified way.
We all know what problems there are. We see them very often. But it is also good to be here, and to draw all these journalists here, and to show that sometimes it can also go very well.King Willem-Alexander
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azc (asielzoekerscentrum)
An asylum seekers' centre is a reception facility where people who have applied for asylum in the Netherlands live while their application is being processed. The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) manages most of these centres, which provide accommodation, daily necessities and support to residents. Asylum seekers are normally moved to a regular municipality once they receive a residence permit or are required to leave the country.