Hundreds gathered in Ixelles on Wednesday morning to prevent a planned eviction of 80 people, including numerous children, from a vacant building.
A crowd of protestors started forming at around 07:30 on Wednesday at the entrance of the building on Avenue de la Couronne, with signs reading 'Stop the brutality of evictions!'. The building in question is a former nursing home which has sheltered around 80 people, including children, since January this year.
By 08:00, a police officer informed the organisers of the demonstration, the Rockin'Squat collective – which offers shelter for vulnerable people including asylum seekers – that the eviction had been cancelled.
'We can't be sure of anything'
"We have just been told by a police officer that the eviction won't take place today. We hope that this is true, but it's the bailiff who is in charge of the eviction. Until he confirms this, we will keep mobilising," explained Nael Daïbes of Rockin'Squat. "It's been cancelled for today, but does that mean it will take place tomorrow? We can't be sure of anything."
This is not the first time that authorities have tried to evict the building. The first eviction attempt was originally set for 19 March. However, the date was pushed back to 7 July after an 11th-hour agreement between the municipality and the Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Fedasil), the building's future tenant.
A second eviction attempt was set for 3 April, after the building's current owner filed a unilateral request to the court of first instance. This was once again delayed due to a similarly large demonstration.
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Ixelles Mayor Christos Doulkeridis said that he has been "fighting tirelessly for months" with the help of the Region to find a solution for rehousing the families. But in addition to this, the owner "has the right to recover his property," the Mayor declared.
Nevertheless, a solution for the relocation of the 80 people appears to have been finally found, according to Rockin'Squat and the municipality. A new building in Montgomery should be made available in July.
"We should receive the keys within a few weeks. We will then need a few more weeks to prepare for the move with peace of mind," the collective explained, which is asking that the occupants be allowed to stay until 4 August. However, Fedasil reiterated that the building should be vacated by early July for refurbishment work to commence.
