The Mayor of Anderlecht, Fabrice Cumps (PS), said imposing a curfew on under-16s in the Cureghem district on New Year’s Eve – a criticised measure – has been effective. However, many locals disagree.
In the run-up to end-of-year celebrations, Cumps announced that under-16s from parts of the Cureghem district would risk arrest if they went out between 19:00 and 05:00 unsupervised. The curfew aimed at curbing disorder and protecting young people but was criticised for criminalising minors before they did anything wrong. A request was made to the Council of State to have the order suspended. However, the court ruled against this call, and the measure was put in place.
According to Cumps, the curfew bore fruit, as no minors were among the around 30 people arrested by the Brussels Midi police zone (Anderlecht, Forest, Saint-Gilles), Bruzz reported.
"Community guards alerted youngsters they found on the streets after 19:00 and sent them home," he said. He pointed to an incident in Rotterdam, where a young man lost his life while setting off a Cobra flare (illegal fireworks, notorious for their huge explosion), as a reason for protecting young people.
Lack of local police
Residents, however, questioned the effectiveness of the measure. Mohamed Ouamara, active in the neighbourhood committee Vigilance Cureghem, saw little difference from previous years. "As always, we saw crack dealers, youngsters aiming fireworks at others. The police were nowhere to be seen."
A man lights a small firework in Cureghem. Credit: Belga/ Hatim Kaghat
He said offering a wider range of facilities for young people (such as libraries, swimming pools, sports halls and party venues) as an alternative, would be a better solution.
Ouamara also stressed that the neighbourhood faces many more pressing issues that plague the area throughout the year (crack dealers and unauthorised traders and landlords). According to him, deploying more police officers who connect with young people would help. Cumps responded that the authorities "are doing the maximum with the resources they have".
More violent incidents
The police figures hide another striking detail: all arrests in Anderlecht took place in Cureghem. According to Cumps, this demonstrates the necessity of the targeted measures in this neighbourhood.
He added that, while fewer incidents took place than in previous years, violence has become more intense.
After 22:00, a group of adults actively sought confrontation and attacked the emergency services, including by throwing Molotov cocktails. Similar incidents occurred in other municipalities such as Forest, Saint-Gilles and Molenbeek. Groups of people across the region lit fires to attract the fire brigade and then opened attacks on them.
