Trans person BEGS to return to the US after fleeing Trump's America to be placed in notorious Islamic asylum center in the Netherlands: 'I will be hurt or killed'

Published: 17:51, 26 July 2026 | Updated: 17:51, 26 July 2026 A transgender woman who fled the US seeking asylum in the Netherlands now fears she could be 'hurt or killed' after the notorious refugee camp she was placed in became so dangerous that the Red Cross pulled out aid workers.  Ter Apel, the Netherlands' largest refugee camp, is home to around 2,000 asylum seekers from across the globe. For years, it has sheltered people fleeing war and persecution, including Eritreans, Somalis and Syrians, who say it remains too dangerous to return home despite the fall of Bashar al-Assad.  Now, a new wave has begun arriving: transgender Americans who say they fled the US fearing for their safety after Donald Trump returned to the White House. Asylum seeker Jane-Michelle Arc, 48, from California, told The Guardian she left the United States after she said it had become increasingly volatile for transgender people.  Arc, a software engineer from San Francisco, said she had faced abuse on the street and while using women’s restrooms, and decided to flee the US after a harrowing incident in which she feared being run over by a truck. But Ter Apel has been grappling with a surge in violence outside the asylum center, including stabbings and violent brawls, prompting aid groups and Red Cross volunteers to temporarily halt their work supporting refugees over safety concerns.  'The situation I have in the US as a trans person, not good right, but here, I will be hurt or killed,' Arc told local outlet Pow News. Jane Michelle-Arc, 48, a transgender woman from California, fled to the Netherlands to claim asylum Arc said she had faced abuse on the street and while using women’s restrooms in the US and did not feel safe Asylum seekers camp out close to an application center in Ter Apel, this week the Red Cross temporarily stopped aid workers from servicing asylum seekers due to increased violence  Since May 20, the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) has limited access, allowing only vulnerable asylum seekers, such as women and children, inside.  Others must wait outside until space opens up, and the Red Cross reported the violence in front is due to a 'small group of men who are generally not among the people seeking assistance.' The area will become a safety risk zone, allowing authorities to conduct preventive searches, Dutch Asylum and Migration Minister Van den Brink announced per NL Times.  'It is too dangerous to walk to the grocery store because of the people that live in the camp, and I'm one of them, I live here,' Arc told Pow News. 'You see these guys in yellow vests, they actually wear them because there are so many stabbings,' she added. The Red Cross said the aid volunteers feel 'unsafe' on the site, adding that the violence 'cannot be controlled.' 'Between here and there, there's a bunch of Moroccans or Bulgarians or whatever that think queer people should be beaten,' Arc said of the area outside the center. 'I think this system where you have people just living out here that are unhappy is not good.'  'It's scary, it's legitimately scary, I decided that my mental health is degrading so substantially being here, that I just need to get out. Your browser does not support iframes. Red Cross reported the violence in front is due to a 'small group of men who are generally not among the people seeking assistance Arc said volunteers working in neon colored vests, she says they wear them due to the influx of violence Jane-Michelle Arc's room in the asylum camp. Her pet dog is seen on her bed. She wrote that this photo shows 'the entirety of what I own and all of the furniture I have access to' In an attempt to restore safety, a day shelter will open at the center, giving asylum seekers a place to wait instead of sitting on the grass.  Authorities will also add more cameras, four security guards and two special enforcement officers. Arc transitioned from male to female in 2012, and changed the gender on her ID in 2013.  But after Trump’s re-election, she feared losing protections in jobs, housing and healthcare. When her passport renewal threatened to erase her legal identity, she chose to leave the US.  She previously told the Guardian that fleeing the country is 'the dumbest thing' she has ever done. 'I did it because I was afraid for my life. I didn’t do this in secret. I talked to everybody I knew. I said: "I am planning to do this wildly stupid thing."  'Everybody said: "I don’t love this for you, but there is no other option,"' she said.  In a post on Substack, she wrote about how she wants to return to the US. 'Leaving California showed me how I cannot leave California,' she wrote. 'I thought when I left that I was growing something new here in the Netherlands. But it is time to go. Long past, in fact.' To return, a friend has been fundraising to pay for the cost of a new passport - which expired and she initially declined to renew as she would be required to list her gender as male.  Friend Jana Lynne Sanchez wrote on Facebook the support would help get her out of the asylum center and back home in California. 'Escalating violence against her as a transwoman and a lack of protection from US authorities left her feeling that her best option was asylum in the Netherlands,' Sanchez wrote. 'Since then, Jane's partner back home has been diagnosed with cancer (prognosis good following a successful surgery), and she wants to return to the US to support him. 'We are raising money to help her get to the consulate in Amsterdam and cover her passport fees.'  Pride flags and a sign reading 'Don't Wrap Racism as Feminism' (translated from Dutch) are displayed around a statue in the Netherlands Asylum seekers in line at the registration center in Ter Apel The Red Cross reception location for asylum seekers on the waiting list at the Ter Apel registration center When she first arrived at the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND), Arc spent her first days in a cramped room with what she feared were body fluids on the walls.  She considered herself lucky, as the overcrowded camp had some asylum seekers sleeping in tents outside. Residents are later moved into shared housing blocks and receive a small allowance for food. Arc said she was eventually placed in the 'queer block,' where LGBT asylum seekers live together. Sharing meals and conversations helped her find a sense of community. Arc also said she could have moved to the Netherlands through a tech job - as she is a software engineer -  but the process would have taken too long.  Instead, she took the drastic step of seeking asylum. She estimated 35 to 50 other transgender Americans have also sought asylum in the Netherlands, though officials do not track transgender applicants.  The odds of Americans receiving asylum are slim, Marlou Schrover, a Leiden University professor who studies Dutch immigration, told the outlet. The Dutch asylum ministry said about 20 failed American applicants were deported back to the US in 2025.  Schrover said asylum claims would likely only succeed if the US began targeting and detaining transgender people because of their identity.  'If the US moves towards putting people in prison, treating them really, really bad because of their [gender identity], and with no other claim added to the reasons why they’re in prison, then the situation would definitely change.' Conservative gender policies – specifically regarding transgender laws  –were an important part of Trump's 2024 reelection campaign Red Cross volunteers had to temporarily halt their work supporting refugees over safety concerns in the front of the center Marlou Schrover, a Leiden University professor who studies Dutch immigration But losing the right to list a chosen gender on a passport alone is far from enough to secure asylum, she said.  Conservative gender policies – specifically keeping men out of women's sports –were an important part of Trump's 2024 reelection campaign.  The Supreme Court's recent decision on June 30 upholds states' ban on transgender athletes competing in girls' and women's sports in schools.  The ruling overturned decisions by lower courts that sided with trans students who challenged bans in Idaho and West Virginia as violating the Constitution and a federal anti-discrimination law.  In his majority decision, Justice Brett Kavanaugh ruled that Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education, supports the idea of 'separate sports teams for biological males and biological females. 'Given the inherent physical differences between the sexes, allowing only biological females to play on women's and girls' teams can reduce the risk of physical injury and ensure fair competition,' he wrote. President Donald Trump had earlier celebrated the ruling, posting on his Truth Social page: 'BIG WIN: The United States Supreme Court just RULED AGAINST MEN PLAYING IN WOMEN'S SPORTS . Wow! That takes that ridiculous situation off the table!!!'   The Daily Mail has reached out to Arc for comment.