Watching: The World in Ter Apel

Overview

What were things like behind the fences of the overcrowded registration center for asylum seekers in Ter Apel in 2023? In the year that the cabinet fell over asylum and the subject of migration had a major influence on the outcome of the House of Representatives elections, documentary makers Hans Hermans and Martin Maat were given exclusive access to a normally carefully shielded world for a year. They filmed how asylum seekers had to sleep on the floor of the IND waiting rooms in Ter Apel. In December, the makers witnessed how the IND management decided, after the visit of the inspectorate, that sleeping in the waiting rooms was no longer allowed. The four-part BNNVARA series offers an unprecedented insight into the heart of the asylum crisis and also shows the conditions on the life-threatening escape routes before refugees apply for asylum in the Netherlands.