Mayor Sharon Dijksma expects that with these cuts, Utrecht will become increasingly unable to accommodate asylum seekers humanely. “The quality of shelter is deteriorating, we can find fewer places and that is below the standard of what we consider humanitarianly responsible,” Dijksma expects.
The Utrecht city council is still negotiating with the government about asylum policy. “I think you should always start with that, but it is a serious situation,” says Dijksma.