Haaksbergen Residents to Vote on Asylum Seeker Housing Criteria

Residents of Haaksbergen, in the Overijssel province of the Netherlands, will participate in an advisory referendum on March 18, 2026, regarding the criteria for housing asylum seekers. The vote coincides with the municipal elections and comes as the municipality is legally required to accommodate 129 asylum seekers, including 18 unaccompanied minors .

Referendum Details

The referendum will not address whether asylum seeker housing should exist at all, but rather focuses on how it should be implemented. Specifically, residents will vote on whether the municipality should concentrate asylum seekers at a single location or distribute them across multiple sites. Another key question concerns the placement of a center on land currently designated for future residential development .

Four Key Questions

An independent commission, established by the municipal council, has formulated four questions for the referendum, which were finalized on January 28th. Voters will answer each question by coloring in a single box with a red pencil .

Question 1: Centralized vs. Distributed Housing

The first question asks residents to choose between two options: prioritizing a single location for all asylum seekers or distributing them across two or more locations. The choice impacts security arrangements, with a single location (housing 100 or more) qualifying for state-funded security and surveillance from the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA). Distributing asylum seekers across multiple locations would require the municipality to fund security for adult asylum seekers .

Non-Binding Vote

the referendum is advisory and not legally binding. The municipal council is not obligated to act on the results of the vote . However, a referendum was granted following requests from residents who expressed concerns during an information evening held by the municipality earlier this summer .

Azc Will Proceed Regardless

Despite the referendum, the municipality confirmed that the asylum seeker center (azc) will proceed as planned, as accommodating asylum seekers is a legal obligation under Dutch law .