The homeless shelter network in the Brussels-Capital Region is getting another 500 places for asylum seekers who cannot immediately get a sheltered place in the Fedasil shelter network, the Federal Government announced on Friday.
As Belgium's failure to shelter asylum seekers has resulted in many sleeping rough, most of them have been unable to find accommodation on the day of their registration with the federal asylum agency Fedasil.
Previously, 1,500 places were already made available, but the capacity will now be expanded by another 500 places to get through the cold winter months, said the office of State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor.
Additionally, interim employment at Fedasil is being extended and expanded as a way to find enough people to staff the reception centres and replace absentees. Interim jobs will also be possible for vacancies at Fedasil headquarters. There are currently 120 vacancies at the federal reception agency.
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De Moor stressed that so far this winter, no families with children have ended up on the streets. That was also her intention when she decided last summer to temporarily stop accommodating single men in the network, she underlined.
"But we cannot solve this with just more shelters," she said. "The influx really has to come down, and that is why I am so adamant about the reform of the European migration policy. Only with that Migration Pact that provides for better control at the borders will we be able to shelter everyone again."
