Two asylum seekers from Tunisia were beaten up, threatened, and stabbed over the weekend in Ter Apel, one of the Netherlands’ largest centers for asylum seekers. According to reports, the “visibly homosexual” men reported being attacked with knives by a group of men, shouting: “Gays, gays, we will kill you!” It is the second such incident in the span of just over a week, coming on the heels of the stabbing of a 24-year-old resident on April 23th.
Police have video footage of six attackers, and have apprehended one perpetrator, an underage Algerian asylum seeker. He reportedly targeted the men on the basis of their sexual preference, showing once again the incompatibility of welcoming mass migration from Muslim countries with support for the LGBT lifestyle.
According to Sando Kortekaas from the group LGBT Asylum Support, the couple identified the attackers as Algerians, something police have yet to confirm.
For some time, the two stayed in a special LGBT unit, where minority group asylum seekers are put in order to protect them from other residents who have issues with their lifestyle.
However, since they were not registered as a homosexual couple, the Dutch Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) transferred the Tunisians to Ter Apel, where they were placed in the ‘VBL’ wing of the complex, which is intended for asylum seekers who will probably be deported to their country of origin. This wing does not have a specific LBGT unit.
A COA spokesperson confirmed that the two men were staying in the VBL unit and that the support group had previously indicated that the couple did not feel safe. “We always do our best to see if relocation is possible. But given how busy Ter Apel is, that does not always work out.”
Tunisia, although majority Muslim and thus intolerant of those who diverge from Islamic teaching, is deemed a safe country by the Netherlands, which means that asylum seekers from that country have little chance of obtaining a residence permit in the Netherlands.
The center in Ter Apel has been congested (it has a permitted capacity of 2,000, but is now over 2,200) for many months now, as the country continues to experience a steady flow of migrants.
