The Ciré, Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen, Samusocial and the Citizen Platform expressed their concern on Monday about the situation of asylum seekers occupying a building under construction near the Gare du Nord in Brussels.
During a press briefing organized at the last minute, the organizations expressed their dismay at the situation that the sixty asylum seekers are going through and its management by the political world. “We want the crisis center to meet and solutions to be put on the table,” explains Mehdi Kassou, spokesperson for the Citizen Platform, Belrefugees.
Sotieta Ngo, director general of Ciré, asked that a federal crisis plan be put in place to help people in the building and to find them a housing solution, failing which asylum seekers risk be constantly evacuated. “If there is no site requisition, this situation will recur every day, even every six hours,” she laments.
About sixty asylum seekers have been occupying a building under construction since Sunday which will house the national crisis center in the future. The police surrounded the building with a large number of fire engines and vans the same evening. The security forces had also prevented access to food delivery in the building occupied by asylum seekers on Sunday. An agreement was finally reached with the associations and a first delivery was made on Monday.
Bags of food, water bottles as well as blankets and mattresses were brought inside the building using an organized human chain at the entrance of the building.
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Police surround the future national crisis center occupied by asylum seekers