Half of the inhabitants of the municipality of Cranendonck no longer want to receive asylum seekers in Budel after 2024. This emerges from a residents’ survey (carried out by I&O Research) about the future of the Nassau-Dietzterrein in Budel, where an asylum seekers’ center is now located. Nearly two-thirds of those questioned would prefer to see the defense force return to the barracks grounds.
There has been a lot of nuisance at the azc in the Brabant village in recent years, which residents have complained about. There were violent incidents such as stabbings and fights. Villagers often did not feel safe on the streets. In February, State Secretary Van der Burg of Justice and Security wrote that 58 residents of the azc had been convicted by the police judge in three months.
According to the municipality of Cranendonck, which includes Budel, more than 46 percent of the households that have been approached have responded to the survey. In total, almost 4,500 residents and 200 students from a secondary school in Cranendonck responded.
Negative about azc
More than 60 percent of the people who participated in the survey expressed negative views about the azc. People mainly complain about theft, intimidating behavior and a feeling of insecurity around the station and on public transport. Three out of four people who have experienced nuisance say that it has become worse in recent years.
The municipality previously reported that it wanted to close the azc on July 1, 2024, but the contract with the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) runs until 2028.
Since 2014, the former defense site in Budel has been home to a maximum of 1500 asylum seekers. The nuisance is said to be caused by so-called safelanders, people who have no chance of asylum and who have to be quickly deported to their country of origin because it is safe there. It concerns countries such as Morocco.
The municipality of Cranendonck will study the report and will discuss it in the municipal council on 2 May.
- Extra supervision at asylum seekers’ center Budel due to nuisance
- Bus no longer stops at Budel asylum seekers’ center after incidents
- Permanent access control at Maarheeze station due to nuisance to asylum seekers
