Refuge in a prison cell
Crime is declining in the Netherlands. So the authorities have come up with an ingenious plan to transform prison centers into temporary housing for asylum seekers. But what is living in a former prison really like?
A dream residential complex, at first sight
The Dutch government allowed Belgium and Norway house their prisoners in prison facilities across the Netherlands. But there were still vacant spaces. So, the authorities decided to turn them into temporary shelters for migrants who have travelled to the Netherlands in search of refuge. The picture shows Bijlmerbajes prison complex in the southeast part of Amsterdam, which is one such facility.
When dark corridors stir hope
Mako Husa looks out of a window in a corridor at the former prison center of Bijlmerbajes in Amsterdam. The 40-year-old is an asylum seeker from Ethiopia. She is one of 600 people currently living in Bijlmerbajes.
No fear of persecution
Many of the inhabitants at this former prison center have fled their countries due to violence, persecution and a lack of opportunities. Finding a peacful refuge gives the migrants an opportunity to collect their thoughts and work out how to go forward. This picture shows Meza Negadtu, 29, a migrant from Eritrea, praying inside her room.
New relationships
Aimable Nasbimana, 37 (right) a migrant from Burundi, teaches his Congolese friend Prosper Baseka, 37, how to ride a bicycle. Both have found a new home in Bijlmerbajes. The former prison's infrastructure provides excellent facilities, such as the exercise yard for leisure activities.
The ones they left behind
According to the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service, 58,900 asylum applications were filed in the country at the height of the migrant crisis in 2015. Numbers declined to 31,600 in 2016, but authorities warn that people are still coming. In this picture, Eritrean migrant Ksanet Goitom, 23, points towards the pictures she brought with her from home, showing her family members and friends.
Children also housed in former cells
Five-year-old Sandi Yazji from al-Hasaka in Syria, holds a mobile phone while standing inside her room at the former prison center. Around 170,000 young migrants and refugees sought asylum in Europe during 2015 and 2016. However, the total number of unaccompanied children is believed to be much higher.
A life far away from violence
Refugee brothers from the Syrian town of Baniyas (from right) six-year-old Izzeldein Moustafa, ten-year-old Abdulrahman, play table football against 12-year old Ahmad and Amir, who is eight. The authorities at Bijlmerbajes have made sure that there is something for everyone at the shelter houses.