The government’s refugee settlement agency COA must pay a fine of €50,000 every time the number of refugees at the Ter Apel registration centre exceed 2,000, a court in Groningen has ruled.

Westerwolde council, which includes Ter Apel, went back to court earlier this month because the limit on refugee numbers was still being broken. COA had already paid €1.5 million in fines by June this year.

The new penalty is up to a maximum of €5 million.

The court said the COA will have to pay the fine if more than 2,000 refugees are at the Ter Apel location at any time, rather than overnight. COA had been bussing people to other locations to sleep, including in tents in nearby towns.

Westerwolde argued that the agency could do more to prevent the Ter Apel location being overcrowded, which leads to problems at the centre itself, for staff and in the locality.

Justice ministry inspectors warned in June that staff and asylum seekers at the Ter Apel centre face “unacceptable risks of becoming a victim of a violent incident,” and the situation at the centre is “very serious’”,

The centre is the first port of call for all new arrivals in the Netherlands but its population includes several hundred young men, who come from safe third countries with no hope of their application succeeding. They live alongside families and people fleeing war zones in overcrowded conditions with few diversions, making for a volatile mix.

Reducing the number of troublemakers and housing more families with children would also be an option, mayor Jaap Velema said. He also called on the COA and migration minister Marjolein Faber to work more closely together.

Last Friday the government announced plans which it hopes will lead to fewer refugees coming to the Netherlands, even though numbers are down 25% this year.

In particular, the government plans to scrap legislation which aims to ensure all local councils take their fair share of refugees. That is already having a positive effect on the number of beds available and local councils have called on the far-right minister to keep it in place.