There will be a strike in all Belgian prisons on Friday. This was announced by the socialist trade union ACOD. “Many detainees are still lying on a mattress on the floor in a cell that is much too small,” it said.
The announced 24-hour strike in Belgian prisons will therefore continue. It starts on Thursday at 10 p.m. and lasts until Friday at 10 p.m. The willingness to strike is reportedly high.
The unions refer to the sharp increase in the number of detainees and internees, but also an increasing number of cases of aggression. The total population of Belgian prisons is close to 12,000 people, or about 1,400 more than the capacity allows.
“Solutions are not enough”
For the unions, the solutions proposed by the government are “still not sufficient after two years”. As a result, staff have to work in “unacceptable conditions” and detainees live in “appalling living conditions”.
“The strike mainly falls on January 12, because this month we also have to accommodate the 12,000th detainee,” says Eddy De Smedt of VSOA. “Overcrowding is causing prisons to burst at the seams, creating inhumane living conditions for our detainees.”
“The willingness to strike is very high,” De Smedt emphasizes. “It is urgent to make the job more attractive to more easily recruit staff into our institutions, because staff shortages also remain an issue. This shortage means that the leave backlog is also constantly increasing, with the result that there is currently a backlog of 600,000 days. There is no longer any question of humane detention,” said De Smedt.
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