State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum Affairs) is furious with the group of asylum seekers who misbehaved yesterday when they were transferred by bus from Ter Apel to The Hague.
“That’s scum. It’s really outrageous. For all I care they were kicked off the bus along the highway.” He finds it incomprehensible that people who apply for asylum in the Netherlands misbehave in such a way.
The State Secretary said this prior to the Council of Ministers. The group of asylum seekers was eventually evicted from a bus in Ter Apel after vandalism on board. The police said today that they helped with the evacuation with about thirty colleagues. No one has been arrested and the evacuation went smoothly, according to a spokeswoman.
Bus company Holiday-Travel from Assen reports on Facebook that it concerns one of its buses. The vehicle took the asylum seekers from the application center in Ter Apel to a temporary shelter in The Hague. En route, lockers on board would have been broken open. After consultation with the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA), the driver decided to return to Ter Apel. After that, the passengers would have caused destruction and threatened the driver. Back at the application center, the asylum seekers had to leave the bus.
Van der Burg ‘completely’ understands that the bus driver turned around. “I really don’t understand that you are so misbehaving, and also to a bus driver who is helping you to ensure that you can sleep somewhere tonight. You are just completely crazy.”
The State Secretary would like to crack down on asylum seekers who misbehave in such a way, for example by denying them the right to apply for asylum. International regulations ‘unfortunately’ do not allow this.