Asylum seekers cause trouble on Grave-Nijmegen bus

The bus operator Connexxion has deployed security because the bus because drivers are harassed and intimidated.

Currently, the problem mainly concerns the route between the Grave bus station and Nijmegen, says the spokesman Anton Masteling of the Central Agency for Reception of Asylum seekers (COA). “It concerns a group of some 25 people. From 8 of them we know that they come from the asylum seeker center in Grave.” The origin of the other troublemakers is not yet known, Dutch regional daily De Gelderlander reported.

The trouble mainly consists of not wanting to pay for a bus ticket or verbal and intimidating aggressive behavior against drivers. “Lately, it has been somewhat quieter in Grave,” says Masteling. “However, it is possible that the problem will move to some other place.”

The Brabant state chapter of the PVV has asked questions about the problem on the bus line between Uden and Nijemegen. According to the party, it concerns “hopeless asylum seekers from safe countries who are terrorizing the bus drivers.”

Masteling says on behalf of COA that he currently can make no comment about this. “There is consultation with all parties and with the police. If Connexxion makes a statement, prosecution can be initiated with the camera images.”

It is unknown whether there is a connection between this group causing a nuisance on the bus and the group of young asylum seekers from safe countries who were involved in robberies during the last two months in Nijmegen.

There were 64 reports in two months of pickpockets committing thefts in the city center. During their robberies, the young robbers mostly hit train travelers and the public.