The Dutch are planning to house refugees on cruise ships as the government attempts to cut down on overcrowding in asylum centers.
Plans agreed on by Dutch ministers earlier this week would house 3,000 refugees on cruise ships starting in September, according to the Guardian. The plan is seen as a temporary solution to the sudden, massive influx of Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion.
Three cruise ships have already been commissioned for this purpose, though problems have arisen in finding ports to house the vessels. Only a single port in Velsen, North Holland, has been found to accommodate one ship so far. Ministers in other coastal cities are reluctant to allow the repurposed cruise ships to anchor in their ports.
The ministers behind the plan examined its legality and determined that if the refugees weren’t able to leave whenever they wanted, they would technically be in captivity, according to Dutch News. As such, ministers are further looking into ways to ensure freedom of movement on and off the ships.
The plan has drawn the ire of nongovernmental organizations, with the Dutch Council for Refugees, VluchtelingenWerk, describing it as “absurd.”
“The reception of asylum seekers is now far below standard. A cruise ship as a temporary measure is already a lot better than an average crisis emergency shelter. But it’s a different story if you let them float around at sea,” a spokesperson said.
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The plan echoes a proposal by ministers of the United Kingdom in 2020, who planned to alleviate the migrant crisis by housing refugees on ships moored offshore. The proposal was shot down as too expensive, unsafe, and immoral, according to the Guardian.
Roughly 60,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Ukraine since the start of the war in Ukraine.
