Brussels, (Brussels Morning)- About 150 asylum seekers have been staying in an empty building in the Rue des Palais in Schaerbeek since Friday. According to the lawyers and social workers involved, all the people who occupy the building have submitted an asylum application. The Brussels Region is not pleased with the occupation, because the building was prepared for refugees from Ukraine.
25-year-old Abdul is squatting at the gates of the building in the Paleizenstraat. Together with a number of Burundian refugees, the Afghan takes care of access to the building where they have been staying since Friday.
“I lived on the street for three months, near the Klein Kasteeltje,” Abdul tells BRUZZ. “I have submitted my asylum application, but I am still waiting for a reception place.”
Hygiene and food
Together with about 150 asylum seekers – all single men, mainly from Afghanistan and Burundi – Abdul moved into the vacant building on Friday. Coincidentally, the squatted building was prepared under the watchful eye of the Brussels Region for housing intended for refugees from Ukraine.
“Workers came to work on Saturday and that went smoothly,” responds social worker Naïm Daibes. “They returned on Monday, but on a warning from their supervisor, the workmen stopped their work due to the new situation in the building.”
In the meantime, social workers with whom several asylum seekers were already in contact before the start of the occupation of the building supplied the necessary hygiene products and food. Insuring volunteers on the spot was also set up.
“The intention is that the new residents will manage the premises themselves in terms of access, food and hygiene,” said Daibes.
No hot water
However, there is still work to be done. “Electricity is there, but not hot water yet,” says Abdul. “But the conditions are of course more favourable here than on the street. We sometimes went to the North Station to sleep, but living on the street is not life, especially now that winter is approaching.”
However, the Brussels Region is concerned about the occupation. “It is currently not the intention that people move into the building,” responds Brussels Ukraine coordinator Peter Michiels.
“At least three weeks of work will be needed before the building is in order. This means that the current infrastructure can pose a danger to residents, in terms of electricity, for example.”
“In addition, we are sorry that the works on a building that will accommodate 350 people are not progressing now,” continues Michiels, who does indicate that it is not impossible that the building will eventually also house non-Ukraine refugees. “The horizon of the Brussels government has broadened in view of the reception problem.”
‘Extreme uncertainty’
For Daibes, the situation is as clear as a log. “This story should not get bogged down in playing one group of refugees against another. But politicians have shown political will during the Ukraine crisis and have shown that emergency shelters can be created in a short time. Why is that not possible for refugees from other countries?”
Refugee Work Flanders, in turn, says that “it is not illogical that people are looking for their own solution”. Because: “This is yet another sign on the wall that the government is not or insufficiently performing its task – namely providing shelter.”
The social workers and lawyers involved in the occupation emphasise in a press release that the Belgian government has already been convicted more than 5000 times for not being able to provide bed, bath and bread for asylum seekers who are legally entitled to them.
We have come to a point where the Belgian government, through its passivity and lack of respect for human dignity, is creating conditions of extreme uncertainty.
The collective of people assisting the asylum seekers therefore demands “access to decent housing for all asylum seekers, the execution of all convictions by the labour court and finally that Fedasil and the Belgian state comply with their national, European and international obligations”.
“Until these conditions have been met, the residents of Paleizenstraat will remain in the building. Return to the street will not be accepted.”
Get killed
That is not an option for Abdul. “I came to Belgium via Austria. Conditions in Austria were appalling. We were treated inhumanely. I had heard that refugees would be treated better here.”
“But now I’ve been waiting for a roof for three months,” he continues. “I don’t know anyone here, but I’m determined to build a life in Belgium. I don’t care where. Not any job. I worked in Afghanistan at the Lincoln Learning Center, a partner organisation between the US and Afghanistan. Returning to my homeland is therefore impossible, I will undoubtedly be murdered there because of my ties to America.”
Expulsion
The lawyers for the residents of the building in the Paleizenstraat let it be known that they will stand in the breach for the asylum seekers at all costs. “These are all people who have the right to shelter,” says lawyer Mieke Van den Broeck of Progress Lawyers Network. “We will defend them against expulsion, because that risk exists.”
The owner of the building would indeed intend to obtain an eviction order, several sources confirm.
“It is also logical that the owner of the building does not want an uncontrolled, unframed occupation,” it sounds to the cabinet of Brussels Prime Minister Rudi Vervoort (PS).
“The building must be adapted so that the conditions are sufficient to accommodate people. Moreover, reception for asylum seekers is a federal competence. However, over the years, the Brussels Region has taken its responsibility and offered temporary housing to hundreds of asylum seekers. So we don’t have a double standard.”
