The mayors of Anderlecht, Fabrice Cumps, and Saint-Gilles, Jean Spinette, have written a letter to the CEO of the National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB) about their concerns relating to the neighbourhood around Gare du Midi, La Libre Belgique reports.
The Socialist mayors in their letter, explained how they and the Brussels-Midi police zone have “taken their responsibilities” in this challenging district of Midi. They are calling for the CEO to take part and find solutions.
They express concern about the lack of police a proper police station. “In an international station with more passenger traffic than Zaventem Airport, a full-fledged police station (…) is not a luxury”, they argue.
An important proportion of the arrests around the station are related to undocumented people.
The mayors warn of the potential misuse to wrongfully stigmatise all immigrants and to criticise the alleged poor management of Brussels authorities that some appear keen to attribute.
