Dutch ministers have agreed a compromise deal about how to cope with failed refugees who cannot or are unable to leave the country, RTL news reports on Wednesday.

In essence, the agreement means the five big cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, The Hague and Eindhoven will be able to offer emergency accommodation for a short period, but that all other cities must stop doing so.

Refugees who have failed to win formal refugee status will be able to spend a few weeks at the shelters, which will offer basic bed and board, but must then report to a deportation centre to prepare for their return.

If they refuse, they will be evicted and left on the streets, RTL says.

Currently, some 25 town and city councils provide bed and board for asylum seekers without papers.

The deal ends the cabinet crisis over caring for failed asylum seekers. The right-wing VVD Liberals opposed any form of accommodation, saying it would act as a draw for others. Labour said basic shelters should be provided to stop people sleeping rough.

Mayors

According to broadcaster Nos, deputy prime minister Lodewijk Asscher and the Liberal’s parliamentary leader Halbe Zijlstra briefed the big city mayors on the compromise deal on Tuesday night.

They have so far refused to comment because the agreement is not yet official, Nos says.

The coalition has been discussing what to do about refugees without paperwork for a week, ever since the Council of Europe said the Netherlands had an obligation to provide them with emergency accommodation.

At the moment, refugees who fail in their applications for asylum are evicted from refugee centres and expected to return home. Thousands have ended up living rough or in emergency accommodation run by churches and other charities.

One group of around 100 people, many from Somalia and Yemen, have been drifting round Amsterdam for over two years, squatting in empty buildings including a church and a car park.