UPDATEA major fight broke out at the new tent camp in Ixelles, near Flagey Square, on Saturday morning. Six people were injured. One of them was in critical condition for a while, but is now said to be “out of danger”. The precise circumstances of the incident are not yet clear. A judicial investigation was started.
“At 6.30 am our teams received a report of a fight at the tent camp on the Heilige-Kruisplein in Ixelles,” says Ilse Van de Keere, spokeswoman for the Brussels Capital Ixelles police zone. “Around ten people were involved in the incident. Ultimately, six people were injured. One of them is in mortal danger.” The collective ‘Stop the Shelter Crisis’ has now reported that this person is no longer in danger of death, although this has not yet been confirmed. These are probably asylum seekers who stayed in the tent camp.
“Broken in to steal”
According to Stop the Shelter Crisis, some people from outside the camp broke into the tents and tried to steal phones. “Tensions rose and a fight broke out,” the collective wrote in a press release.
The police services do not yet want to confirm that it concerns people from outside the camp. “The investigation is ongoing,” it said. According to the police, the perpetrators of violence may also come from the camp itself. Six people were taken to hospital, including one person with life-threatening injuries. The public prosecutor’s office is investigating the precise circumstances of the incident.
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Mohamad Al Qarra, a Palestinian refugee, was present at the tent camp on Saturday morning and testified. “Around 5 am, people came from outside the camp and attacked some Afghan camp residents to steal their phones. Suddenly there was glass and blood everywhere. The police then arrived and some people were arrested. I don’t know where the aggressors came from. They may have been drunks.”
Eviction
On Friday evening, activists and residents of the squat in Wetstraat moved to a new tent camp for asylum seekers on Place Sainte-Croix in Ixelles, next to Place Flagey. Previously, the justice of the peace decided that the asylum seekers had to leave the building in Wetstraat.
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After the fight, the police closed the camp. The municipality of Ixelles threatened to evacuate the camp on Saturday morning. In the meantime, Stop the Shelter Crisis is conducting negotiations with the municipality, which is trying to find alternative housing for the people living in the camp.
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