As the Dutch government outlined its solution to overcrowded asylum centers, plans to house refugees arriving in the Netherlands on cruise ships were described as "absurd" and illegal.

Three large ships have already been commissioned, with one due to be anchored in Velsen, near IJmuiden in North Holland, though ministers are struggling to find additional willing ports.

“We are seeing the increases soar, it’s alarming.”#UNHCR Spokesperson Shabia Mantoo told reporters that "alarmingly, since the beginning of the year, an additional 478 people have also died or gone missing at sea."#Ukraine #Russia pic.twitter.com/AbXwnDR28I

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) May 5, 2022

Officials are also looking into how they can allow refugees to move freely on and off the ships in order to avoid claims that those on board are being held illegally captive by the state.

The relocation is said to be necessary due to a lack of space in refugee camps as a result of a large number of Ukrainians fleeing the war in their home country.

Dutch cabinet approves cruise ship plan

According to plans approved by the Dutch cabinet earlier this week, approximately 3,000 refugees could be housed on cruise ships beginning in September.

Due to a lack of space, refugees have been forced to sleep on the grass outside one refugee center in the village of Ter Apel in the northwestern Netherlands, a situation that the government says will not be resolved for at least a fortnight.

The government has further enraged NGOs by implying that people from Ukraine will not be placed on the ships, unlike refugees from other countries.

'Absurd' plan

VluchtelingenWerk, a refugee council, called the idea of putting asylum seekers on ships "absurd."

A spokesperson said: “The reception of asylum seekers is now far below standard. A cruise ship as a temporary measure is already a lot better than an average crisis emergency shelter. But it’s a different story if you let them float around at sea."

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“You don’t need research to think that you can’t do that to people who have fled war and violence. You take care of refugees as a society and not from a distance at sea.”

The UN’s refugee wing, the UNHCR Netherlands, said the move was “undesirable”. “Existing traumas due to the dangerous flight may resurface for some.”

The UK Home Office considered housing refugees in abandoned ferries moored off the coast two years ago, but the financial costs proved prohibitively high.