The clamour to house Somalians, Sudanese, Ethiopians and other so-called “failed”asylum seekers currently camping in the Nieuw-West district of Amsterdam, is growing ever louder, reports Het Parool.

Around 800 people have signed an online petition calling on mayor Eberhard van der Laan and Nieuw-West council leader Achmed Baâdoud to take action.

Tomorrow the camp enters its third week and every day it gets colder and wetter. There is enough money to buy a generator to provide heat but the fire bridage are refusing permission for this.

A mayoral spokesperson Bartho Boer told Het Parool: ‘Experts from the GGD [local health authority] believe that people can still stay in the tentcamp. The campers have camp beds and sleeping bags available to them and they are not seriously sick”.