Crisisnoodopvang Dongen (De Nestel)
Dongen has run an emergency asylum shelter at de Nestel on the Tichelrijt industrial estate since 1 February 2024, with capacity for just over 170 people. Reporting and the municipality describe few incidents at the site, which residents say has become a quiet place where children attend local schools and many adults work; extra safety measures such as neighbourhood officers were put in place at the start. After the Ministry initially refused funding beyond July 2025, a residents' petition and local pressure led the minister to reverse course in April 2025, allowing the shelter to stay; it later became a structural municipal (DGO) location due to remain until 31 August 2027.
Occupancy
145
people (Aug 2025)
Per night
€184
per person (benchmark)
Annual
€9.7m
estimated
Background
The site sits at de Nestel, Dongen. 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
Apr 2025
Minister relents: asylum shelter in Dongen can stay
After initially refusing, the Ministry of Asylum and Migration agreed to fund the de Nestel shelter beyond 1 July 2025, following a residents' petition that stressed the reception had caused no problems and become a safe haven.
Omroep Brabant · source
2025
In this village residents fight to let the asylum seekers stay
Local residents campaigned to keep the de Nestel reception open, describing well-integrated families and few problems, as the facility's future hung in the balance.
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
Feb 2024
Emergency shelter opened at de Nestel
Dongen began housing just over 170 asylum seekers on the Tichelrijt industrial estate, with extra security measures around the site.
Apr 2025
Minister reverses closure after residents' campaign
Following a local petition, the Ministry agreed to keep funding the shelter beyond its planned July 2025 end date.
Cost
Dutch asylum reception is funded by central government through the COA. At an illustrative benchmark of about €184 per person per night for emergency reception (noodopvang), the 145 people recorded here on 13 August 2025 imply roughly €9.7m 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.