The announcement of a federal minister on the reception of asylum seekers provokes controversy in Belgium. The Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration has suspended the reception of isolated men. After filing an application for protection, migrants arriving in Belgium should normally be offered accommodation, but there is a shortage of space.
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Single men will no longer be offered accommodation by Fedasil, the Belgian federal agency responsible for reception. This measure is intended to give priority to isolated women and families. It will be temporary but for an indefinite period.
And according to Federal State Secretary Nicole De Moor, it’s just “ don’t be late to events », that is to say, to avoid the saturation of accommodation capacities. In a press release, this Flemish Christian Democrat explained “ anticipating a growing influx of families and children » seeking refuge in Belgiumand want ” Absolutely avoid children ending up on the street in winter “.
The end of summer sees a peak in arrivals each year due to easier crossings. And Belgium only has 34,209 places already occupied at 94.84%.
The Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration may have wanted to show common sense but she drew a volley of green wood. This decision was judged intolerable » by Doctors Without Borders or « shameful by the Human Rights League, which also considers it illegal under Belgian law. Some point out that Belgium has already been condemned 8,000 times for failing to receive them.
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Controversy
And on the political ground, condemnations are not lacking, in particular from the Brussels government which believes that this decision will create many homeless people in the streets of the capital as autumn arrives. The Brussels region thus asked the Belgian government on Thursday to reconsider its decision. In a press release, the regional government makes the link between the asylum crisis in Belgium and the presence of “ many homeless people in the streets of the capital, particularly around major stations.
” The Brussels government must note that for several years, the socio-sanitary situation and the safety of several neighborhoods have been deteriorating due to factors over which it has little institutional competence. he writes, citing “drug trafficking and the crime that accompanies it, as well as the presence of a large number of homeless people, asylum seekers or without residence permits “.