Global Peace Games: much more than football

This morning Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Sammy Mahdi and Minister of Youth Benjamin Dalle are also with the party. Together with the youngsters, they put on their football boots to play a game on the historic Flanders Peace Field. In WWI around Christmas there was an informal ceasefire between the enemy soldiers around here. In some places there was even football. With their visit, Dalle and Mahdi want to send a positive signal in these turbulent times of war.

Most of the young people in this camp come from conflict or war zones and now reflect on what happened here more than 100 years ago. They participate in sports, attend workshops on peace and conflict and visit war memorials in the region. According to initiator Groep Intro, this exchange is ideal for young people to make them realize that war is not exclusive, and that Belgium also has a heavy war history.