The Brussels Minister-President Rudi Vervoort questioned on Friday if "we are reaching humanly unacceptable limits" – by giving priority to moving people housed in a hotel over those who are still sleeping rough in Brussels.
The comment comes after the uproar that followed the transfer of asylum seekers from the so-called Schaerbeek squat into a hotel in Flanders – which resulted in them being quickly transferred elsewhere. Vervoort was being questioned by several Brussels MPs in the regional parliament over the issue of undocumented migrants and the closure of the so-called Schaerbeek squat at Rue des Palais and the care of the occupants.
Some 163 people were temporarily moved to a hotel in Ruisbroek, Flanders, which caused indignation from certain Flemish politicians and the local mayor, who was not satisfied with not having been informed.
Steps were then immediately taken by Fedasil to find them accommodation elsewhere.
“I have to tell you that if Fedasil wants to give priority to asylum seekers staying in hotels over those who have to sleep on the streets, then we have reached the limits of what is humanly and morally acceptable," said Vervoort.
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The Minister-President also expressed surprise at the “hysterical” reactions to the sending of asylum seekers to a hotel in Ruisbroek.
“When Fedasil decides to place people in our municipalities, it doesn’t phone the mayors to warn them. I can understand that this is the rule for Brussels and does not apply elsewhere,” he stated.
