Brussels Public Prosecutor Julien Moinil has opened an investigation for "gross negligence" of over around 400 inadequately-cared vulnerable minors in the region.
Minors who should be subject to protection measures end up on waiting lists and do not receive any help, Moinil told RTBF. As a result, some of these young people sometimes become involved in violence related to drug trafficking in Brussels a few years down the line.
"I want to conduct investigations to find out why some minors at risk are not being cared for. I want answers," he said. "Why are we abandoning these young people?"
The care of young people at risk is the responsibility of the language communities, and therefore of the French Community Government (Wallonia-Brussels Federation) on the French-speaking side.
"The finding is worrying, but the figures must be put into perspective," said Francophone Minister of Youth Assistance Valérie Lescrenier (Les Engagés). According to her, there is always another form of support possible if the solution proposed by the juvenile judge cannot be implemented.

Francophone Minister Valerie Lescrenier (Les Engagés) during a joint press conference on the Wallonia-Brussels Federation budget, October 2024. Credit: Belga/Bruno Fahy
Lescrenier added that a five-year youth assistance plan was presented in February and has already had concrete results. This year, an additional €9 million was allocated by the French Community Government, to create additional places and also to strengthen support for families and young people.
Meanwhile, Public Prosecutor Moinil sees a link between the failure to care for these young people at risk and the drug-related violence of recent months. "There are young minors, extremely young, who can, for a few thousand euros, pick up a weapon of war and go kill. Sometimes under 14 years old."
He stressed that they must be taken care of as quickly as possible. "Most of the adults we intercept during or after these shootings – and who we incarcerate because they are dangerous – are former minors at risk or delinquents. But due to a lack of resources, they are not adequately cared for."
Youth judges are faced with a lack of space every day, Moinil said. The disinvestment is even worse than that of the Justice Department at the Federal level. "At the community level, it is catastrophic. There are young people who are released without any support."
"In Belgium, when a child dies, everyone is outraged. But when a child is threatened with sexual violence, physical violence – and there are 400 of those on this waiting list – it doesn't cause concern," he stressed.
Recent spate of shootings
On Monday, around 17:20, the Brussels North police zone was called to reports of gunshots on Rue Allard in the Northern Quarter, in Schaerbeek. Around 21:00 on the Friday before, shots were fired in the Cureghem neighbourhood, near the Clemenceau metro station in Anderlecht again. One person died.
A few hours after the first shots in Anderlecht, around 01:20, further shots were fired towards a café on Place du Conseil (near the City Hall). There were no injuries.
Whether the two incidents are related is unclear. In any case, several shots have been fired in recent weeks near the Clemenceau metro station, and the surrounding neighbourhoods, as well as in Peterbos. These shootings are part of a territorial dispute between rival gangs involved in drug trafficking.