Undocumented migrants on hunger strike in Brussels suspend their movement
Fifty people have already been hospitalized from the site of the Beguinage church in Brussels.
AFP - HATIM KAGHAT
Text by: Lou Roméo Follow
4 min
Spread over three sites in the city of Brussels, the 430 undocumented migrants who had started a hunger strike since May 23, 2021 have announced that they are suspending their movement.
Their files will be examined individually in the coming days by a "neutral zone" specially set up by the Belgian government.
Fifty people in critical emergency were evacuated, according to the NGO Médecins du monde, interviewed by RFI.
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The health situation was tense, as explained by Michel Genet, the president of Médecins du monde Belgique. "
The medical services are on site to take care of the most critical cases
," he explains this Thursday, July 22.
The Red Cross has already hospitalized 50 people from the Beguinage site, which included 230 people. We are talking about fifteen people to be hospitalized at the ULB [Free University of Belgium, Editor's note], and we are still in the process of evaluating the emergencies on the VUB site [Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Editor's note].
For the doctor, some will have to be placed in intensive care, in particular because of kidney problems.
The 430 undocumented migrants occupying these three sites in the city of Brussels had started
a hunger strike
on May 23, 2021, and some had doubled it with a thirst strike since July 16.
They demanded regularization and a work permit.
The majority had been present in Belgium for many years.
“
I spoke with someone who has been in Belgium for 17 years,”
explains Michel Genet.
He has already been on two hunger strikes and is now in a state of uncertainty.
From what authorities have said, his case should be taken care of, but they don't know what will happen.
"
Case-by-case assessment
It is therefore an atmosphere of doubt and uncertainty that prevails among the strikers.
The movement has indeed failed to obtain the
collective regularization
it was demanding.
The files will finally be examined on a case-by-case basis by the Belgian authorities.
They could benefit from taking into account "
exceptional circumstances
", according to AFP, or, for a smaller number, "
the possibility of international protection
.
"
The length of the presence in Belgium, employment in sectors lacking manpower, but also the Covid-19 epidemic which is raging in the Maghreb countries from which the majority of strikers come from, could thus enter taken into account.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo reacted immediately, believing that “
ending the hunger strike is the only right decision
”.
"
A government can never accept blackmail,
" added the Flemish liberal leader in a separate statement.
Tensions in the Belgian government
This extraordinary hunger strike, which began on May 23 at three sites in Brussels occupied by undocumented migrants, put pressure on the Belgian government, a fragile coalition of seven parties notably associating liberals, socialists and environmentalists. Last weekend, the heads of the French-speaking PS and Ecolo-Groen had publicly expressed their fear of "
an imminent tragedy
", calling on the Prime Minister to ask him to discharge the Secretary of State for Migration Sammy Mahdi from the file.
A solution has therefore been found temporarily, but the occupation of the three sites will continue for the next few days.
"
The fact that the strikers are together facilitates their medical care
," sums up Michel Genet.
But a lot of them are also homeless, and that's something that's also going to have to be tackled quickly
.
"
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