Brussels (Brussels Morning) – About 30 undocumented women and 10 children have been relocated from the ex-Monty hotel in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert. They have been moved to a reception centre, despite the responsible agency’s protest.
The women and children have inhabited the former hotel on Boulevard Brand Whitlock since January, after the group of Ukrainians who had been dwelling in it before deserted the building.
On Tuesday morning, however, the group was hard evacuated from the building by the police. The proprietor of the former hotel had applied to the Peace Court for their removal and refused to negotiate their extended stay.
What efforts were made to prevent the eviction?
The Undocumented Women’s Committee – a group sustaining undocumented women and children – had arranged a rally at 08:00 to try to contain the eviction, but it took place before the mobilisation.
How were the women and children evacuated from the building?
The police penetrated the building at around 06:20 and proceeded to vacate them by forcing open the doors “with a great deal of intimidation,” the Committee told Belga News Agency. “The approximately 30 women and 10 children – including an infant – were not even permitted to take their personal belongings on the bus. Workers will be asked to collect them later and bring them back,” stated Benoît Peeters, a citizen supporting the Committee.
Where were the undocumented women and children relocated to?
Woluwe-Saint-Lambert Mayor Olivier Maintain (DéFI) had pledged an alternative building, but no suitable or practicable solution could be found. On Tuesday, the occupants were therefore moved by bus to the Ariane federal transit reception centre in this commune, an unobstructed wing of which had been requisitioned earlier in the week by Maingain.
Why did Fedasil contest the decision to transfer them to the Ariane Federal Transit reception centre?
However, Fedasil, the asylum reception agency which operates the centre, has contested the decision. It claimed that there was not enough capacity or space. The agency itself is labouring with the fallout of the asylum reception crisis, driven by the Federal Government’s failure to deliver enough shelter for asylum seekers who are legally entitled to it.
“Our mission is to take in people who have applied for asylum, not those who haven’t,” the agency asserted. It has meanwhile referred the matter to the Council of State, which stated it lacked jurisdiction and referred the case back to the Peace Court.
What concerns have been raised about the suitability of the Ariane Centre?
Peeters meanwhile has increased concerns about whether the Ariane Centre is a stable and permanent solution for the concerned women and children. The women were offered another solution, but they refused due to the lack of space and available sanitary facilities. The eviction comes just days after a large-scale march took place in Brussels to press the regularisation of undocumented migrants. The action – “operation regularisation” – is derived from several collectives and backing groups. They called for an end to closed detention centres and evictions, among other things.
