azc Vries (Sportlaan)
The temporary reception centre in Vries (Drenthe) came within hours of being shut down in December 2022 after two disruptive residents caused serious trouble. Mayor Marcel Thijsen of Tynaarlo threatened to withdraw the municipality's cooperation and close the site, which would have sent its asylum seekers back to Ter Apel, unless the two men — who had a history of alcohol- and drug-related trouble at another location — were removed. After the mayor escalated the matter to the King's Commissioner, the COA and the state secretary, a taxi eventually took the pair to Ter Apel and closure was averted.
Occupancy
224
people (Aug 2025)
Per night
€80
per person (benchmark)
Annual
€6.5m
estimated
Background
The site sits at Sportlaan, Vries. 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 2022
Unrest at azc Vries, closure prevented at the last moment
Two disruptive residents nearly triggered the closure of the Vries reception centre; after the mayor escalated the matter nationally, the pair were taken by taxi to Ter Apel and the site stayed open.
NOS · 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 2022
Closure averted at the last moment
Mayor threatened to shut the centre over two disruptive residents; they were removed to Ter Apel after intervention up to the state secretary.
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 224 people recorded here on 13 August 2025 imply roughly €6.5m 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.