Schaarbeek and Brussels yesterday proceeded to evacuate the building that had been inhabited for weeks by hundreds of people, mainly asylum seekers, who had been living there in appalling conditions.
But the operation was chaotic: 163 people were taken to a hotel in Ruisbroek, a sub-municipality of Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, while the mayor, the Flemish government and the provincial governor, they say, had not been informed in advance. In addition, dozens of people had to spend the night on the street.
LOOK. Some asylum seekers were taken to a hotel, others were sent away without shelter
According to Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, it is clear that the situation “did not turn out as it should”.
According to De Croo, it is “not the time to start pointing the finger”, but he pointed out that the eviction happened through Schaarbeek and Brussels and that the decision to accommodate people in a hotel was not a federal decision. “I understand that people wanted to evacuate the squat”, but “it seems logical to me that a mayor is informed of this”, he said.
LOOK. De Croo: “Eviction did not go as it should”
According to the prime minister, the federal reception agency Fedasil must now screen the people in the hotel and provide reception in the network as a priority. That can be done at the rate of about forty people a day, he said.
In addition, the influx of asylum seekers must be brought under control and the outflow increased so that people who are entitled to reception can actually receive it, De Croo added.