The former refugee centre, which the educational institutes have renamed Suite23, has room for one hundred students. Since Thursday, 46 internationals have moved in. Two hundred students requested information about the rooms, and approximately ninety ended up ‘reserving’ a room.
The university and Hanze opened up the location last Tuesday, after news about international students starting the academic year while living in hotels or at camping sites because they were unable to find a room came out.
Protest
Last Friday, dozens of students protested the housing shortage on the steps of the Academy building. During the protest, RUG employees took down the details of fifteen homeless students. According to Bakker, they have been assigned a bed at the Van Swietenlaan.
The hundred beds are divided over single, double, or triple rooms. ‘We’ve outfitted the rooms with new beds, an electric kettle, and plenty of closet space. We’ve also installed washing machines in the building. There are also plenty of bathrooms, installed on former tenants COA’s behest’, Bakker says. However, there are no kitchens at the facility.
According to the RUG spokesperson, the students staying in the rooms are ‘very content’. The students can stay in the facility until October 31 at the latest, at a charge of 16 euros a night. The university expects all internationals to have found a room by the end of October.