# Military police return to Ter Apel to help tackle nuisance

> The Koninklijke Marechaussee, the military police, will support the police in Ter Apel for at least the next few months. The mayor of Westerwolde says there are on average 20 shoplifting cases a week.

Migration · published 2026-10-22 12:32 · https://nlnow.nl/a/military-police-return-to-ter-apel-to-help-with-nuisance/

The Koninklijke Marechaussee will help the police in Ter Apel for at least the next few months, as the municipality of Westerwolde struggles with theft and nuisance in the village.

"We are dealing with a very high number of shoplifting cases," says Mayor Jaap Velema of Westerwolde. On average it happens twenty times a week. Incidents such as stabbings also occur regularly on the site of the COA, the asylum reception agency, the mayor says. Young people often drink alcohol and cause nuisance in the village centre.

On Thursday evening Velema meets asylum minister Bart van den Brink (CDA), with the COA also present. He wants to make clear that the agreements to reduce the nuisance must be kept.

"I hope results will be achieved in the coming weeks," Velema says. "This nuisance should never have arisen in the first place."

A COA spokesperson says: "It is regrettable that this is necessary."

## Background

- **COA (Centraal Orgaan opvang asielzoekers)**: The independent government body that houses and looks after asylum seekers while their applications are processed. It runs reception centres across the country and falls under the minister responsible for asylum and migration.
- **Koninklijke Marechaussee**: The Royal Netherlands Military Constabulary is the military police of the Dutch armed forces. Besides policing military personnel, it carries out border surveillance and border control, including at Schiphol airport, and it can be deployed to support the regular police and other authorities when extra capacity is needed.

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