Police evicted some 70 undocumented people, including ten children, from their squat in the Brussels commune of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert on Thursday morning, Bruzz reports.
Individuals of many nationalities were evicted, including from the Maghreb or Sub-Saharan African regions, said the Roza Nera – Zone Neutre collective, which supports people without legal documents. Although it was a forced eviction, no violence broke out, the squatters said.
According to Woluwe-Saint-Lambert's mayor Olivier Maingain (Défi), an alternative solution had been found at “Le Chauffoir”, an event hall in Etterbeek. But the police told the collective that no new shelter was available, leaving the large group of people on the street blocking the road. A truck from the Zone Neutre collective picked them up.
The building is owned by the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS). The group moved into the empty office building in August and OACPS has since tried several times to evict the squatters. One attempt to do so failed in October and a compromise was sought together with Maingain.
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The collective criticised the owner of the building for not informing the residents seven days in advance that they intended to carry out a forced eviction. According to one member of the collective, the residents were taken by surprise when police burst in at 05:3o on Thursday morning.
Maingain's office did not respond to Bruzz's request for comment.
