Ten years ago to the day, on December 19, 2015, we were informed of the death of a man of Congolese origin at the Vottem detention center. This man, around 50, whose name we do not know, is believed to have taken his own life in the shower.
The director of the center at the time described his death as a “tragic and tragically personal event,” with “nothing that could have suggested his actions.” However, tension had been building for several weeks in the blue wing of the center in Vottem. There had already been a suicide attempt, an escape attempt, a hunger strike, etc.
Even today, 10 years later, we still say to the director at the time that he has blood on his hands. That confinement destroys people psychologically and physically. That the violence perpetrated during arrests, detentions, and deportations causes extreme suffering that leads people to death.
Following this death, several actions (hunger strikes and demonstrations) were organized by detainees in various detention centers (127bis, Merksplas, Vottem, Bruges). Outside, two demonstrations were held in front of the centers in Vottem and 127bis (Steenokkerzeel) in solidarity with those who are locked up.
This tragic passing in 2015 echoes the all too numerous deaths that have occurred in detention and during deportations. We think of the deaths of Mahmoud F. last October at 127bis, Tamazi R. in 2015 in Vottem, Gebre Mariam in 2018, A. in 2023 in Merksplas, A. in 2024 at 127bis, Semira Adamu in 1998 on a plane, Baudouin P. in 2024, … as well as so many others whose names we will never know, victims of violence perpetrated by the Belgian state and all the institutions that enforce these abjectly repressive migration policies.
Detention centers kill, the Immigration Office kills, borders kill
NEVER FORGIVE, NEVER FORGET
NO TO DETENTION CENTERS
NO TO DEPORTATIONS
NO TO BORDERS
LIFE AND FREEDOM FOR ALL
https://www.gettingthevoiceout.org/suicide-and-hongerstrike-in-the-closed-centre-19122015/
