Dutch Study: Asylum Centers Don't Harm Neighbor Safety

Fears about asylum centers harming neighborhood safety don't match reality, according to new Dutch research that tracked communities after shelters opened near their homes.

People living near asylum seeker centers rate safety at 6.5 out of 10 in the first year, then bounce back to their original scores of 8 or higher in following years. The findings come as protests have erupted in Loosdrecht, IJsselstein, and Den Bosch over planned shelters.

In Druten, Gelderland, residents living near an emergency shelter for 100 single male asylum seekers rated their neighborhood safety at 6.4 out of 10 after 18 months. During that time, the council logged just 16 complaints: one shoplifting incident, four misplaced package deliveries, two noise complaints about an emergency generator, and issues like littering and nighttime bike riding.

When one resident generated multiple complaints, officials moved him to another center. "You'd get disorder if you put 100 students together too," researcher Jos Kuppens told Dutch broadcaster NOS.

A 2017 government study found no statistically significant effect of asylum centers on neighborhood safety overall. When center residents do commit offenses, they're typically petty theft like shoplifting, and these incidents usually happen inside the centers themselves or in larger cities farther away.

The Bright Side

The research offers concrete evidence that communities can successfully integrate asylum centers without sacrificing safety. Real world data from Druten shows minor, manageable issues rather than the chaos some fear.

Two centers in Ter Apel and Budel have experienced significant problems, mainly from young men from countries the Dutch government considers safe who have little chance of gaining residency. These cases remain clear exceptions to the broader pattern.

The findings matter because fear can override facts. Loosdrecht officials reduced their planned shelter capacity from 110 to 70 people and postponed opening after several nights of rioting, even though evidence suggests their concerns may be overblown.

Communities across the Netherlands now have data showing asylum centers can be good neighbors, with safety scores that recover to pre-opening levels and complaints that look remarkably ordinary.