azc Balk (Wikelerdyk)
The reception centre on the Wikelerdyk in Balk, open since 2016 and repeatedly extended, is being wound down. Under agreements reported in late 2024, residents must leave by October 2026 and the site must be cleared by March 2027, with the population reduced in stages from around 500. Dismantling work began in February 2025 as the first housing units were trucked away.
Occupancy
87
people (Aug 2025)
Per night
€80
per person (benchmark)
Annual
€2.5m
estimated
Background
The site sits at Wikelerdyk, Balk. 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
Dec 2024
AZC Balk to close its doors
The reception centre on the Wikelerdyk will close, with residents required to leave by October 2026 and the site cleared by March 2027 after years of extensions.
Groot de Fryske Marren · source
Feb 2025
Dismantling of AZC Balk begins, housing units transported away
Work to wind down the Wikelerdyk centre started, with 32 housing units removed from the site that week.
Radio Spannenburg · 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
Dec 2024
Closure date set
Agreements confirmed residents must leave the Wikelerdyk site by October 2026 and the terrain be empty by March 2027.
Feb 2025
Dismantling begins
The first housing units were removed from the Wikelerdyk terrain as the wind-down got under way.
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 87 people recorded here on 13 August 2025 imply roughly €2.5m 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.