A remarkable video is circulating on Tiktok in which a De Lijn driver refuses to let a woman get off the bus at the front. She then calls to her: “Take off your headscarf, we are in Belgium.” The transport company will “take appropriate action” against the female driver.
The incident took place on Tuesday on line 290 or 295 in Antwerp, which is not yet completely clear. Singer-songwriter Morane Miangue (24) was on the bus and witnessed: “It was busy on the line between Hoboken and Antwerp South,” she says. “Passengers also got off at the front. That was no problem. But when a woman wearing a headscarf tried to get off at the front around 3 p.m., the driver refused to open the door. Because the back door was already open, it sounded. She then shouted: ‘Take off your headscarf, we are in Belgium’,” said Miangue.
“I spoke to the female driver about it and made it clear to her that something like that is not possible, that it was racist. There was no reason at all to lash out like that and to make a ‘fuck you’ gesture,” says Miangue. She posted the images she made with her smartphone on TikTok on Wednesday.
“There was no reason at all to lash out like that and also make a ‘fuck you’ gesture”
Morane Miangue
Witness
Appropriate measures
De Lijn has not yet been able to speak to the female driver in question. “We have now spoken to the woman who uploaded the video,” said Marco Demerling of De Lijn. “Using the information she gave us, we will now try to trace the driver in question and start a conversation to hear her side of the story. After that conversation, we will take appropriate measures,” he said.
(Read more below the photo)
A screenshot from the Tiktok video in question.
De Lijn will not make public what that could be because it falls under privacy. “I would like to emphasize once again that De Lijn attaches great importance to diversity and respect, and we expect all our employees to treat travelers and colleagues with respect at all times,” the transport company said.
It is not known who the woman with the headscarf was. However, says Miangue, the driver still pretended to want to hit her when she left the stop.
“I would like to emphasize once again that De Lijn expects all our employees to treat travelers and colleagues with respect at all times.”
Marco Demerling
The line
Not the first incident
This is the fourth time in a short period that a driver from De Lijn or who drives on behalf of the transport company has been charged in the media. De Lijn has started an investigation in all cases. For example, at the beginning of this week it was announced that a 19-year-old passenger was verbally abused because the driver had to drive three stops between Berchem and Waarloos (Kontich) especially for her. When she pointed this out to him, he started driving aggressively and swearing at her, she says. Another driver recently left two teenagers behind on the emergency lane of the E40.
And the parents of a 14-year-old girl from Nossegem filed a complaint because the driver of a scheduled bus simply left their daughter at the stop in Tervuren after school.
