Residents of the Kronehoef neighbourhood are taking a wide stroll around a complex on Van Thienenlaan, now that yet another violent incident has taken place there. According to the neighbourhood, migrant workers live in the complex.
“It is getting out of hand here”, says a man with a beard and a dog, who is walking in the nearby park. He is not only taking a detour so that he does not have to pass the building complex, but he also fears for his granddaughter, who often comes to stay. “If one of those people walks through here with a gun, and you run into them, then the child will be traumatised”. The thought horrifies him.
On Monday, the police fired a warning shot when they arrested three robbers who had just struck in the neighbourhood. The suspects were living in a building for migrant workers, where incidents have been piling up rapidly over the past year. A few weeks ago, two men of Polish origin were severely beaten and in May, a migrant worker died after setting himself on fire. Recently, on Otterstraat, a stone’s throw from Van Thienenlaan, a man was severely beaten with an axe. The bloodstains could still be seen on the paving stones the next day.
According to the police, the incidents are unrelated, even though some took place in the same complex. Studio 040 has approached the landlord of the migrant workers, but he would not respond. However, he does appear to have seven addresses in the infamous complex to his name. It is not clear in how many of them migrant workers are housed. Lunet Zorg, which rents out many homes in the area to people with a mental disability, said that the incidents would be discussed at a meeting with the police next week.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
