The Brussels Region will receive €20 million per year as part of a convention with the Federal Government to compensate the additional expenses covered by the capital to deal with the homeless issue, exacerbated by the ongoing reception crisis.
The large sum of money that will be given to the region every year aims to offset the additional costs the region covers to provide shelter for the homeless issue, which also includes the reception of asylum seekers and refugees, of whom thousands, including minors and families, have been sleeping rough since the reception crisis started over one year ago.
"Until now, we have never been compensated by the Federal Government for the additional efforts we make and the fact we go above and beyond. We are pleased that these efforts are now being recognised," Zeynep Balci, Spokesperson for Brussels Minister-President Rudi Vervoort told The Brussels Times.
The sum of money will further help the region provide the homeless and asylum seekers with shelter and the medical assistance that is so desperately needed.
Long-time coming
On Friday, negotiations between the regional and Federal Government were finalised, setting in stone a unwritten previous commitment made by State Secretary for Migration, Nicole de Moor, to compensate Brussels, as the number of homeless has increased significantly due to the failure by de Moor, and the Federal Government, to provide asylum seekers with the shelter they are legally entitled to.
"This deal brings back a bit of justice. It makes sense for the Federal Government to recognise that we are doing more than our fair share," Vervoort said in an interview with De Standaard. Two thirds of the population in Brussels' homeless shelters are asylum seekers or undocumented migrants.
Asylum seekers' shelter near the Immigration Services building. Credit: Lauren Walker
Brussels has long been alerting the Federal Government that the costs associated with providing shelter have drastically increased as a result of the reception crisis. However, as temperatures drop, Vervoort is once again sounding the alarm over the reception crisis, recognising that it concerns a humanitarian crisis.
The region already receives around €80 million in public funding to provide shelter to homeless people in the region, but the €20 million as part of the deal is considered compensation to repay the region for what it has already done, such as operating housing for underaged asylum seekers and initiatives specifically providing shelter for women.
Shared responsibilities
In 2022, a record number of people seeking protection from persecution and serious human rights violations in their country of origin — mainly from Afghanistan, Syria and Burundi — arrived in Belgium to seek asylum. As the only asylum registration centre is located in Brussels, the bulk of them that are left homeless sleep rough in the capital region.
Balci noted that the region also proposed for registration centres to be opened in every region so that the responsibilities can be divided instead of Brussels carrying the brunt of the crisis.
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The non-governmental organisation Doctors of the World confirmed that the reception crisis is pushing even more people on the streets, and on Tuesday sounded the alarm that, if no solution is agreed on, there will be "numerous cases of hypothermia, with deaths from hypothermia in the worst cases" among the homeless affected.
As temperatures drop below freezing, it called on the federal and regional authorities to take emergency measures, such as the one announced by the City of Brussels on Monday. It will open some 50 emergency shelters at the King Baudouin Stadium at the request of the Brussels Region.
