The plan of the Eindhoven city council to receive 400 asylum seekers has led to mixed reactions from residents. Studio040 gauged the mood on the market in the centre and on Kanaaldijk, where 100 asylum seekers are already staying.
“It is that there are no empty houses in my street, but if there were, they are very welcome”. This is what a woman on the market responds to the intention to receive 400 asylum seekers in the city. “That shelter must be arranged”.
Still, not everyone is happy. “Perhaps I am a bit too nationalistic and I think that ordinary Dutch people should also be given a chance at a home. In this way I think that the Netherlands is too open and too generous. The country is simply overcrowded, that has been statistically proven”, a man let it be known.
Kanaaldijk
Since June, there has been a temporary shelter for almost a hundred refugees on Kanaaldijk-Zuid. They stay there until a more permanent place is found for them. “At first I thought that four hundred refugees would come here”, a local resident says. “I thought that would be a lot. But actually it doesn’t bother us at all. It’s nice that they at least get a permanent place”.
A student who lives in the area does not experience any problems from the refugees, but believes that the arrival of the asylum seekers makes the housing market even tighter. “For me as a student it is almost impossible to find a house somewhere”, he says. “But I still think it’s important that people in need also have a place to live”.
Involvement in society
The city council wants asylum seekers to be given the space to settle in and integration is also planned. “I think it’s good that the municipality wants to contribute to this. Let them work in healthcare or somewhere else where hands are short”, a passerby at the market says. Another man adds: “People need help and it is also a moral obligation for the municipality to contribute to this. In this way they also help to solve a national problem”.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
