Category: Struggle stories

  We provide each detainee with a €10 monthly top-up phone card. Our resources are diminishing, which is why your help is crucial! Make a donation (or better still, a permanent order) to support us. The money will be sent … Continuer la lecture →

A look back at the suicide attempt (127bis) [TW self-harm] On 11 August last, several inmates at the 127bis detention centre reported a suicide attempt*. The man in question allegedly cut his wrists in the toilets.  “There was blood all … Continuer la lecture →

  20 April 2024 ‘Against food, for freedom’. ‘Do you know how much we’re costing you? For nothing!’ The inmates of detention centre 127bis (Steenokkerzeel) have informed us that a general hunger strike has been called for Tuesday 14 May … Continuer la lecture →

Not enough phones at Bruges detention centre For several weeks now, detainees in Bruges have rarely received a SIM card, and received no telephone. Around twenty inmates in several wings of the centre with which we are in contact are … Continuer la lecture →

03/07/2023While on June 18th we reported on the violence suffered by detainees at the Bruges detention centre https://www.gettingthevoiceout.org/closed-centre-brugge-appeal/, we have since learned of other unacceptable incidents of mistreatment and violence. Mr M., who has been on hunger and thirst strike for … Continuer la lecture →

UPDATE: This man was released on 23 June thanks to his unfailing resistance to a repressive state. Congratulations to him. ____________________________________________________________   18/06/2023: Inmates share their concerns for one of their fellow inmates. M. has been on hunger and thirst … Continuer la lecture →

[Press] “Questions remain after a mother separated from her children stays in a detention centre.” “Camilla has spent as many as 40 days in administrative detention, separated from her partner and her two young children. According to organisations following this … Continuer la lecture →

UPDATE 07/07/2023: The man has been released after 9 months in prison and a 30-day hunger strike. Good luck to him. ____________________________________________________________________________30 may 2023: Mohamed S. has been held in Merksplas detention center since September 21, 2022, to await deportation … Continuer la lecture →

Film https://www.gettingthevoiceout.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/filmje-mersplas-4.mp4 Around lunchtime, around 30 detainees from the a closed centre started a riot in the canteen in Merksplas. They did this to express their displeasure against the living conditions at the centre. This happend at the same centre … Continuer la lecture →

Calls received this Monday 20/02/2023 from the various Belgian detention centres via the Getting the Voice Out collective   We learn that a women’s section has been reopened in the Bruges detention centre. This reopening would have taken place during … Continuer la lecture →

30/08/2022The detainees we are in contact with are demanding their freedom, their rights, proper food and access to medical care. They are protesting against these detentions, against deportations.They are detained in total precariousness, living all day in groups of about … Continuer la lecture →

Call for support     Mr. M has asylum in Romania and lives there.  He goes to Ethiopia to see his family. On his way back, he stops in Brussels to take a bus to Romania. He was illegally arrested at … Continuer la lecture →

08/05/2021 HOLSBEEK CLOSED CENTER] Two years after the opening of the filthy centre, 50 activists are demonstrating today in rage against borders and in support of the detainees. #NoBorder #FreedomForAll! Infos ” Le masterplan centres fermés “: Centre fermé pour … Continuer la lecture →

03/03/2021 Call for support, massive hunger strike! Yesterday evening, a hunger strike started in the closed centre of Merksplas. 11 detainees have refused to show up in the refectory. Since this morning the movement amplifies and a great number of … Continuer la lecture →

10/11/2020 New works in front of the closed center 127bis. Continued development of prison-industrial complex in Belgium A few days ago, about thirty people gathered in front of the closed centers Caricole and 127bis in Seenokkerzeel to show their support … Continuer la lecture →

04/11/2020 PLEASE HELP US! 10 detainees started a hunger strike at the Merksplas closed centre block 4 on 1 November 2020. Some have been placed in confinement cells, a young man was brought to the hospital. They are claiming their … Continuer la lecture →

      We hear through a text message that it is “complete mayhem” at the 127bis and that “journalists should be warned”:    Following the solitary confinement of one of them because he was claiming certain rights, a solidarity … Continuer la lecture →

Deconfinement ALERT According to recent news, the European borders will open again on 15 June 2020. Flights will resume as of that date. Some retainees already got the information that the centres will be filled again. Raids and arrests will … Continuer la lecture →

Update 11/03/2020: They stopped their action this afternoon: The direction told them they were going to take care of their problems; We’re waiting for their release? On 8 March 2020, at a time of mobilisation for women’s rights, activists visited … Continuer la lecture →

On Sunday, November 24, 2019, the national day of mobilization against violence against women, women activists gather in front of the Holsbeek detention centre to support detained women. At the intersection of several struggles, this “surprise” rally denounces violence against … Continuer la lecture →

Bruges closed centre: 14 people placed in confinement cells on 14 June 2019 Last Friday, 14 June 2019, around 11 p.m., a wind of disobedience led a group of retained to organise a small but heroic riot in the wings … Continuer la lecture →

Saturday 9 march 2019 14:00 Ambassady of Soudan 134 avenue Franklin Roosevelt 1050 Brussels [plus d’infos sur FB]   Manifestation de solidarité aux Soudanais(es) détenu(e)s en centres fermés et de soutien aux manifestations au Soudan contre le régime en place … Continuer la lecture →

Sleeping in closed centre Testimony shared by a visitor – About the situation in Bruges, they told me the following : The hunger strike started on 5 February 2019. It is a general one, not only followed by the Sudanese. … Continuer la lecture →

25/06/2018 : « On Thursday, in the yellow wing, 4 Albanians broke the tiles to escape. It made a lot of noise and we all rushed to see, we were quite excited, a dozen of Arabs. One Albanian managed to … Continuer la lecture →

On 20 June 2018, during the whole day, militants blocked the building site of the family units next to the 127bis. In the centre, the retainees expressed their support in favour of this movement in different ways. Some refused to … Continuer la lecture →

Update 23/05 Since 11 May 2018, retainees have been on hunger strike at the 127bis closed centre. Muslims gathered in one wing for the Ramadan.  Two external associations had offered to deliver food during the Ramandan that started on 16 … Continuer la lecture →

127 bis 11/05/2018 30 retainees go on hunger strike at the 127bis closed centre. External associations had proposed to deliver food during the Ramandan period that starts on 16/05/2018. They learnt this morning that it would be forbidden by the … Continuer la lecture →

After a new suprise demonstration in front of the 127bis closed centre this Sunday 22nd April 2018 with a phone number, we have had a dozen of conacts with retainees at the centre. They describe disastrous situations to us: mistreatments, … Continuer la lecture →

10/01/2017: S. has been living in Belgium for ten years. He tried to get regularised since his arrival, in vain, although he worked and respected the laws. He never stole anything, not even to eat. Some of you may have … Continuer la lecture →

05/10/2017: They were several dozens this Sunday afternoon 1st of October 2017 to walk to the closed centre 127 bis in Steenokkerzeel to show their outrage against these retentions and deportations. They made a hundred people happy. Bangladeshi, Algerians, Rwandese, … Continuer la lecture →

20 August 2017 : It’s been 10 days already that two Congolese women, Clarisse Iseka Mbongo and Fefe Tuluka Mizaku have been on hunger strike at the closed centre in Bruges. Powerless in front of the oppressive system, they are … Continuer la lecture →

Surprise demonstration in front of the closed centres in Steenokkerzeel this Sunday 30th of April 2017 Information from inside the centres This Sunday, we got a first phone call from the Caricole closed centre: ‘There are demonstrators in front of … Continuer la lecture →

26/04/2017 In a wing of the centre, two Pakistani retainees have been on a hunger/thirst strike for 5 days. They refuse to be deported because they are in danger in Pakistan. They started the hunger and thirst strike after learning … Continuer la lecture →

Probable scenario Batha was found dead in a confinement cell this Thursday 2nd of March 2017 in the closed centre of Vottem. He had been isolated there 36 hours earlier because he had mutilated his neck with a razor blade. … Continuer la lecture →

Several persons are doing a hunger strike in the closed centres. Among them: -A young Afghan, retained at the 127 bis centre for almost 11 months (he was arrested on the 1st of December 2015). He has been on hunger … Continuer la lecture →

in t the 127bis centre in Steenokkerzeel, it has been 6 days that hunger strike movements started to protest against the long and illegal retentions. Some have been retained for more than 8 months waiting for a decision of the … Continuer la lecture →

Groeps foto from closed centre They came to Europe 5, 10, 15 or 20 years ago. They built their lives here, some with documents, others clandestinely. Some have children who were born here. They all worked legally or illegally. Some … Continuer la lecture →

80 retainees decided today (22nd of April 2016) to start a hunger strike to protest against the retention of women, of parents of Belgian children, of old couples (a couple more than 70 years old), for sometimes more than 7 … Continuer la lecture →

Update 26 septembre 2015 Following the repression of the “trouble makers” of last week,the calm in the 127bis detention centre is supposed to be back and this for good reasons: some detainees have been transferred toother centres and put in … Continuer la lecture →

22/09/2015 How not to be ashamed to be Belgian when seeing the practices by our government and its administration? In front of this refugees crisis, no humankind, no justice; only a policy that is as hypocritical as abject. Its main … Continuer la lecture →

We were very few in front of the 127bis closed centre to encourage the detainees among whom 30 are on hunger strike. Quite sad, all the more since the detainees had organised themselves and were expecting us. In the backyard … Continuer la lecture →

Four prisonners held in the shameful Vottem detention center reclaimed their freedom by escaping. During the night of the 1st to the 2nd of May, they left their cell through the window, climbed the fences and disappeared into nature. “Everything … Continuer la lecture →

UPDATE: 7 April 2015 A lot of calls from the closed centres. Many people are placed in solitary confinement, sometimes for several days. Others are transferred from one centre to the other. Intimidation and threats are ongoing. The solution for … Continuer la lecture →

02/04/2015 The Belgian State want to chase the criminals? They’d better start with themselves (and leave the rest of the world in peace)! SUICIDE AT THE CLOSED CENTRE IN MERKSPLAS A Moroccan man who had been detained in the closed … Continuer la lecture →

Loads of calls from Steenokkerzeel, Bruges, Vottem Loads of different stories, sometimes shocking. A lot of hatred, a lot of tears, and tiny or huge rebellions nipped in the bud. A lot of intimidation and repression: don’t know anything about … Continuer la lecture →

Cross-checking many testimonies, we are more and more worried about the treatments prisoners are submitted to in Belgian closed centres and about the violence displayed during deportation attempts. ‘Tortures’, ‘terror’ say the prisoners When we have them on the phone, … Continuer la lecture →

Hier matin, un jeune homme originaire de la Côte d’Ivoire a été retrouvé mort dans sa chambre au centre fermé pour étrangers de Bruges. L’enquête sur les circonstances du décès est en cours. La nouvelle s’est répandue, et dans plusieurs centres … Continuer la lecture →

Nous apprenons que 7 prisonniers se sont évadés du centre fermé de Merksplas la nuit du 2 au 3 février. Ils étaient déjà bien loin quand le personnel du centre s’est rendu compte de ces évasions et que les recherches … Continuer la lecture →

We the detainees of Vottem Closed Center wish to denounce the inhumanity of our arrests, detentions and deportations. We were all arrested at our home or our work place. We have all been living in Belgium for several years. Some … Continuer la lecture →

20/12/2012 Kumar was not released by the indictment chamber. For the Court, K should be kept imprisoned while waiting for his deportation. In spite of the non-existence of a passport or other documents proving his identity, Europe has made him … Continuer la lecture →