Ter Apel aanmeldcentrum (COA)
Ter Apel is the Netherlands' national asylum registration centre (aanmeldcentrum) and by far its most scrutinised reception site. It has been chronically overcrowded for years: the courts capped it at 2,000 people and order the COA to pay the municipality of Westerwolde a daily penalty when that ceiling is breached, with the fine escalating to 50,000 euros per day from October 2025 after roughly 1.5 million euros was paid the previous year. The site and surrounding village have repeatedly seen violence, including stabbings between residents, prompting a designated security-risk zone and regular police deployment.
Occupancy
2,000
people (Aug 2025)
Per night
€80
per person (benchmark)
Annual
€58m
estimated
Background
The site sits at Ter Apel, Westerwolde, Groningen. 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
Sep 2025
Ter Apel registration centre over capacity again, COA fine mounts
The centre exceeded its court-mandated 2,000 limit, reaching 2,034 residents; the daily penalty paid to Westerwolde was set to rise to 50,000 euros from October, after about 1.5 million euros in fines the prior year.
NOS · source
Jun 2024
Unsafety in Ter Apel requires structural solutions
Dutch police described repeated call-outs to the registration centre for safety and public-order incidents, including fights involving weapons and arrests.
Politie.nl · source
Jan 2025
Liveability and safety in Ter Apel still high-risk
The Inspectorate of Justice and Security concluded that conditions at Ter Apel and its external waiting locations remained seriously risky.
Inspectie JenV · 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
Jun 2024
Security-risk zone declared
Authorities designated the Ter Apelervenen area a security-risk zone amid serious incidents.
Sep 2025
Overcrowding penalty escalates
NOS reported the centre again over its 2,000 cap (2,034 one day); COA fine rising to 50,000 euros per day from October.
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 2000 people recorded here on 13 August 2025 imply roughly €58m 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
RTV Noord / NOS · 2022-2026. 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.