A nationwide call to churches

The Raad van Kerken in Nederland issued the call on Tuesday 20 October 2026 through its campaign Actie Onderdak. The Protestantse Kerk in Nederland and the Rooms-Katholieke Kerk are among the partners, together with nineteen affiliated denominations and several umbrella organisations. Congregations are asked to house status holders, people who have a residence permit but still have no home, for periods of three months. The focus is on families with children, and the accommodation can be a church annex, a vacant vicarage or a holiday home. The organisers say the stay lets the families get to know their new surroundings before they move on.

Shortage of homes behind the plan

Status holders are entitled to a home, but there are not enough available, so many remain in asylum centres run by the COA and block places for newcomers. De Volkskrant reported that 19,000 status holders are currently in those centres, while Trouw put the number at more than 18,000. The organisers also point to a report from the Onderzoeksraad voor Veiligheid, which found in late September 2026 that children live in structurally unsafe conditions in emergency reception locations. John van Tilborg, co-chair of the action, says the initiative is partly a response to that situation. He added that children need a safe life, quick access to school and integration in the municipality where they settle.

First offers and objections

Within hours of the call, the first congregations reported space. Van Tilborg, who also directs the INLIA network, described one church with room for three people in a small vacant sexton's house. Another church said it could offer twenty places during November 2026, with showers and separate bedrooms, and a third has places from 1 December 2026, once its holiday cottages are free.

Not every church is ready to take people in. Eugen Graas, a priest at the Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk in central Amsterdam, said the call was appealing but that the church cannot provide overnight stays.

“But we have no facilities here for overnight stays.”

He added that the church's meeting centre is used every day and that status holders would have no privacy there. At the Andrieskerk in Buitenveldert, a manager said about eighty beds could be placed in the hall, but services are held there too, so the church is not meant to be a shelter.

Church and government reactions

Johan Visser, scriba of the Protestantse Kerk Amsterdam, backed the call and linked it to the biblical tradition and Christian social thought.

“The action of the Council of Churches fits well with how we as churches want to be hospitable places.”

Asylum minister Bart van den Brink (CDA) reportedly said the plan has a warm heart, according to the churches. The COA said it was pleased with every extra place that becomes available. The costs churches incur will be reimbursed, INLIA will provide help and guidance, and the COA will ensure that people can move on to a new place after three months. The national board of the Protestant Church also wrote to its local congregations that images of people sleeping on grass or in mud at Ter Apel were painful to see. The Bisdom Roermond in Limburg has joined the call as well.

What happens next

The organisers find it hard to estimate how many status holders the churches can take in, because it is not yet known how many congregations will sign up. Capacity also differs from church to church. Derk Stegeman of the Raad van Kerken working group acknowledged that the shortage will not be smaller after three months, but said the churches want to send a signal that people deserve a decent place to stay. The Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken, which is not affiliated with the council, is not taking part.