Crisisnoodopvang Woerden (De Bleek)
Since August 2024 the De Bleek building in Woerden has provided emergency reception for around 200 single male asylum seekers, with the municipality later approving a longer-term plan for up to 400 places. Public broadcaster NOS highlighted Woerden as an unusually calm example, reporting no protests against the arrival and locals organising activities such as football matches for residents. The municipality said it had received no complaints and recorded no serious incidents.
Occupancy
207
people (Aug 2025)
Per night
€184
per person (benchmark)
Annual
€14m
estimated
Background
The site sits at de Bleek, Woerden. 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
2024
Asylum seekers find a home in Woerden: no protest, but football fun
NOS reported that, unlike many other locations in the Netherlands, the arrival of around 200 asylum seekers at De Bleek in Woerden brought no protests and no serious incidents, with the municipality reporting no complaints and residents organising football matches for the newcomers.
NOS · source
Aug 2024
Woerden starts emergency reception for 200 asylum seekers
RTV Utrecht reported on the opening of the De Bleek emergency reception location for about 200 single male asylum seekers, with guidance from the COA, the Utrecht safety region and the municipality.
RTV Utrecht · 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
Aug 2024
Emergency reception opens at De Bleek
Around 200 single men housed at De Bleek 1 from 19 August 2024 under 24-hour supervision; intended to run until mid-2026.
Sep 2024
Council backs longer-term reception
Municipal council approved exploring De Bleek as a longer-term reception location for up to 400 asylum seekers.
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 207 people recorded here on 13 August 2025 imply roughly €14m 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.