Due to the lack of a toilet accessible to everyone, many asylum seekers are forced to do their needs in the Emmer station area. This is undesirable and must change.
Council member Bernadette van der Woude of GroenLinks argued this during a committee meeting in Emmer town hall on Monday evening. There is a public toilet on the platform of the train station. The problem, says Van der Woude, is that only people who can pay with a debit card can use it. “Relatively many asylum seekers do not have such a pass. They are often referred to the cafeteria. The problem is that it is only free when using consumption. As a result, these people often relieve themselves outside.”
The councilor asked alderman René van der Weide (Wakker Emmen) whether there is no solution to this problem. The alderman then indicated that the station and the toilet present there are not owned by the municipality. He announced that he would discuss the matter with NS.