Tell them where to buy a ticket, which bus to take or just have a chat. Hosts Ameen and Yahya from Syria and Burak from Turkey help refugees who have just arrived in Emmen to find their way. With success, because the nuisance on the buses is decreasing.
The three are standing next to a bus from Drenthe Tours, which will take asylum seekers to the asylum center in Ter Apel. Ameen helps a Syrian boy with his luggage and answers his questions. “Shukran,” says Ameen in Arabic.
A train arrives. The three hosts are already ready on the platform to receive refugees. “We help them with train tickets and the public transport chip card. And with their questions about the asylum seekers’ center,” Ameen explains.
He knows how the refugees feel, because years ago he was just as distraught at the Emmen station. “There was no team of hosts then. I arrived in a new country, I didn’t speak the language and didn’t know anyone.”