Under new plans, Amsterdam will temporarily house at most 1,000 migrants from a cruise ship that is moored in the port.
This comes as the Netherlands struggles with an accommodation crisis in which hundreds of asylum seekers slept outside a reception center last week.
The vessel will be moored in Amsterdam at least for six months.
The second Dutch city, Amsterdam, has approved plans to allow migrants to board a cruise ship.
Both ships will be moored so that residents can always enter and exit.
Although the cruise ship isn’t yet in Amsterdam, it should be available for use starting 1 October.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte stated on Friday that he was embarrassed by the conditions at Ter Apel’s asylum reception center in remote Ter Apel. 700 migrants were forced to live outside due to insufficient space.
Doctors Without Borders’ Dutch arm sent a team to the camp in order to provide medical assistance for the migrants. This was the first time that the agency had ever deployed to the Netherlands.
“The situation at Ter Apel is very sad. We must all work together to solve the housing shortage so that refugees can find accommodation,” Rutger Groot wassink, an Amsterdam alderman.
The cruise ship was described by Mr Groot Wassink as a temporary solution. He said that the Dutch government should work with local municipalities to reform the asylum system.
The crisis can be attributed to a national housing shortage.
Many asylum seekers who are granted refugee status are unable find a place for themselves and must stay in refugee centers, which are temporary accommodations that are available to them while they wait for decisions on their asylum applications.
Eric van der Burg (minister in charge of migration) thanked Amsterdam and stated: “Temporary large scale accommodation is very important for restoring calm to asylum accommodation.”