azc Aalden (Witte Zandpad)
The asylum centre at Witte Zandpad in Aalden (officially the COA's Zweeloo location, municipality of Coevorden) has operated for more than 25 years and houses several hundred residents. In 2023 and 2024 the villages of Aalden and Zweeloo reported a spell of nuisance blamed on a group of so-called 'safe-country' asylum seekers, with complaints about people entering gardens and residents feeling unsafe, leading a supermarket to add security. The municipality and COA deployed Arabic-speaking street coaches and day-activity programmes, after which RTV Drenthe reported the number of incidents fell.
Occupancy
367
people (Aug 2025)
Per night
€80
per person (benchmark)
Annual
€11m
estimated
Background
The site sits at Witte Zandpad, Aalden. It is run by the COA (Centraal Orgaan opvang asielzoekers), the Dutch government’s asylum-reception agency. For what the azc / noodopvang categories mean and how Dutch reception spending breaks down, open the cost panel on the interactive map with the Netherlands selected in Settings.
In the news
2023
Aalden and Zweeloo struggle with nuisance from safe-country nationals
RTV Drenthe reported complaints of trespassing and intimidation linked to a group of asylum seekers from safe countries.
RTV Drenthe · source
2024
Less nuisance from safe-country nationals in Aalden
RTV Drenthe reported that extra measures, including street coaches, had cut incidents, though authorities stayed watchful.
RTV Drenthe · source
Compiled from public Dutch news reports (each item links to its source). Where a municipality runs more than one reception location, attribution to this specific address reflects the cited report and may be approximate — always check the linked source.
Timeline
2023
Nuisance from safe-country nationals reported
Aalden and Zweeloo experienced a series of incidents linked to a group of asylum seekers from safe countries.
2024
Street coaches reduce incidents
Extra measures, including street coaches addressing troublemakers in their own language, reduced the number of incidents.
Cost
Dutch asylum reception is funded by central government through the COA. At an illustrative benchmark of about €80 per person per night for a regular centre, the 367 people recorded here on 13 August 2025 imply roughly €11m per year. This is an order-of-magnitude figure for context only, not a site-specific invoice — emergency reception typically runs around three times the cost of a regular centre.
Sources
COA / Rijksoverheid (Kamerstuk, 5 Sep 2025) · 2025-08-13. View source
Occupancy is the COA register snapshot of 13 August 2025 and may have changed since. Coordinates were geocoded from the published street address via the official PDOK Locatieserver.