Video shows guard making asylum seeker kiss his shoes at Dutch shelter
A video has surfaced in which a guard at the asylum seekers’ shelter in Budel, Noord-Brabant, forces an asylum seeker to kiss his shoes. The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) confirmed to Omroep Brabant that the video is genuine, but 2.5 years old.
The video was posted on the video platform Dumpert on Monday evening. It shows a guard ordering a young man to go down on his knees and kiss his shoes. “On your knees, on your knees. Kiss,” he orders, translated from Dutch, pointing at his shoes.
The young man folds himself onto the floor and kisses the guard's shoes. “Good boy,” the guard says.
Two other guards are visible in the video, watching, but not intervening. A fourth person filmed it.
The COA confirmed that the video was authentic. “We know about the video. It’s two and a half years old,” a spokesperson told Omroep Brabant. “We investigated it internally at the time and took action. We believe it’s important that people treat each other respectfully, and that goes both ways. Inappropriate behavior is subject to action.”
The spokesperson said that the guard in question no longer works at the COA. "It's an old video. As far as we're concerned, the matter has been dealt with."
