The current residents, mainly Burundi and Afghan nationals, maintain
the building with the help from NGOs, which say Belgium is not
complying with their legal obligations.
People who request asylum in Belgium are entitled to shelter but
Fedasil, the agency responsible for this, has been struggling with a
shortage of staff as well as a shortage of accommodation, leaving
some - including women and children - to sleep in the street.
"It's getting worse, and so the only solution that people have is to
squat somewhere," lawyer Marie Doutrepont, who represents the squat
residents, told Reuters.
Squat resident and Burundi national Gauthier Kwizera, 28, said he
was homeless for weeks after being told that Fedasil had no
accommodation for him.
"We didn't know where to go. We tried to live where we could.
Charities gave us food but we had nowhere to sleep."
"(The Belgian Imigration Office's) institutions and procedures are
made for 2,000, 2,500, maximum 3,000 persons," director general
Freddy Roosemont said. But in September 4,009 people applied for
asylum.
From January to September 2022, the agency received 26,636
applications, while in 2021 the total number was 25,971.
"Our reception facilities can't adapt that quickly," Roosemont said.
The government announced that it will provide additional shelter for
1,500 people in the towns of Jabbeke and Glons, but local
authorities told Belgian media they were not properly informed of
this and are not keen.
"When I arrived to Belgium, I said to myself that my future will be
bright," Afghan squatter Abdul Haqsafie, 20, said. "(But) they left
me on the street." (This story has been refiled to correct spelling
to Roosemont from Roosemant in paragraph 7)
(Reporting by Jakob Van Calster, Bart Biesemans, writing by
Charlotte Van Campenhout, editing by Angus MacSWan)
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