The Red Cross is dismantling 60 tents it erected at the Ter Apel refugee centre this week because the people who have been sleeping in them are ‘not being taken care of properly’.

The agency put up the tents to provide shelter for hundreds of asylum seekers reporting to Ter Apel to have their claims for refugee status registered and who would otherwise be faced with sleeping on chairs or outdoors.

The Red Cross claims that the people who were sleeping in the tents were not given anything to eat or drink between 10pm and 1pm the next day. Refugee settlement agency COA has admitted this, and describes the situation as ‘terrible’, broadcaster NOS said.

There were also few security officials available to monitor the tents, and there had been a few instances of theft and aggressive disputes between refugees, the Red Cross said.

On Thursday night, hundreds of people were taken from Ter Apel to temporary accommodation elsewhere because there was nowhere for them to sleep.