Belgium: 40th day of hunger strike for more than 400 undocumented migrants
Youssef Bouzidi, one of the hunger strikers at the Free University of Brussels (ULB), June 29, 2021. The movement is also followed by 250 people in a church in the capital.
REUTERS - YVES HERMAN
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
In Belgium, an extraordinary hunger strike is observed by around 430 undocumented migrants who have stopped eating since May 23.
Most of them from the Maghreb, they want to be regularized.
These undocumented migrants found refuge in a university and in a church in Brussels.
Publicity
Read more
With our correspondent in Brussels,
Jérémy Audouard
In this church in the center of the capital, dozens of beds, one glued to the other.
The 250 hunger strikers live their days in slow motion.
The firefighters auscultate a woman, deeply exhausted.
“
We work here every day.
It's a bit too much, but it's normal,
”said one of them.
Originally from Morocco, Mohamed arrived in Belgium 11 years ago on a university visa.
“
We put our bodies in danger for a better life,” he
comments.
Me, I lost 13 kilos and there could be sequelae and irreversible consequences on the human body.
"
After 43 days without eating, Fatima also lost ten kilos.
But she does not count on
giving up.
"
We will continue our fight until death or until we obtain an identity card
," she says.
Regarding this hunger strike, the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration mentions a “
blackmail
” to which he will not give in.
Sammy Madhi ensures that any adjustments will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Immigration
Belgium