Tue April 30, 2024, 6:05 PM
DRAGON – An asylum seeker was found early on Monday morning at the roundabout on Ampèrelaan in Drachten. The young man had taken his own life.
Ruurd Tuinstra was the one who saw him and was the first to take action. He found him together with his brother-in-law Lucky de Vries. It seemed like a routine job for Tuinstra because he regularly looks for missing people with a search dog for the Signi organization.
Tuinstra knew what he had to do. He parked the bus in front of the tree so that the many motorists on the roundabout could no longer see it. He checked if the man was still alive and then called the police. Only later did he start to think about what had happened.
The unexpected discovery continued to preoccupy him. Why had this young man taken his own life? Why did he do this at a busy roundabout?
Unexpected
When Tuinstra is working with the search dog, he is always prepared for anything. The Signi search dog has been involved in the recovery of around 15 people over the past three years. In all those cases he knew the story of the missing person, but not this time. “I just wish I could tell you that you are not coming from abroad to the Netherlands to show yourself off….”
Why there?
Afterwards, Tuinstra had the feeling that the young man perhaps wanted to make a ‘statement’ by doing this in a public space. That has never happened in Drachten in recent years (as far as the editors know). “What’s wrong with the asylum reception? It’s worse than what we think? There’s probably too much wool on our hands…..”
The way in which some people responded to this tragedy also rubbed Tuinstra the wrong way. “He’s just an asylum seeker,” someone said when handing over the find. Tuinstra responded: “What is this no foar in comment? It’s about mins, what in racist….”
Memorial site
A memorial site has now been set up at the AZC in Drachten with a photo of the man. The management of the AZC does not want to say anything about him. The residents tell WâldNet that many people are sad.
Played football together
“I played football with him three days ago,” remembers a resident outside the gates of the AZC. The victim is from Tunisia and is said to have been mentally depressed. He was very tired and some residents saw him lying in a corner somewhere on Sunday.
One young man is visibly affected during the conversation and shows a scar on his arm. “Sometimes you panic at the AZC and then you flee to your room and harm yourself with, for example, a razor.” Several residents do that and he did it once. It shows that life in an asylum seeker center is not easy. Another resident knows that it happens often. For example, in March 2023, a roommate took his/her life.
Despite the help of Google Translate, it was difficult for WâldNet to have a good conversation with the residents. It became clear that living in an AZC is certainly no fun. The residents share the room, bathroom and kitchen with other family(s).
The police informed WâldNet in a response that they assume it is a suicide. The police remain reluctant to provide information about this case. The COA does not want to say anything at all for privacy reasons and because it concerns a suicide.
| You can talk about suicide on the national helpline 113 Suicide Prevention. Telephone 0800-0113 or www.113.nl |
