Arrests take place at all possible stages of the migrants’ journey without any coherence nor ethics, because it increases the figures!
– The negative results of the regularisation campaign of 2009 fall daily. People who introduced a regularisation request are frequently arrested and learn, during their arrest or upon arrival in a closed centre that there is a negative answer to their request . A Congolese woman living amongst us for 8 years says, ” they came to my home to tell me that I had to accompany them for information on my proceeding for regularisation. Once at the police station they put me in a cell and from there sent me to a detention centre “
– Is a request for legal marriage or cohabitation a risky behavior ? Many foreigners are being arrested at their home after introducing a simple demand for marriage or cohabitation . They are systematically suspects for the adminisration, which tracks “Marriages of convenience and statements of legal cohabitation of convenience” showing often a close to paranoia zeal. And if some of these “fake couples” later on get conjugal visits once a month at a detention centre, don’t see any inconsistency in it!
After his marriage application a man has spent more than five months in a detention centre . After several attempts of deportaion and administrative apeals, the town agreed to his wedding. So he was released after five months of detention. Di Rupo is in favour of the wedding for all … almost all! Another refugee whose marriage had been accepted and the wedding date fixed early January, has been deported to Iraq a month before that date. His wife, pregnant and in a precarious health, must now make the trip to manage getting married eventually. “The law is the law” says Maggie, wishing she could count the mother and the unborn child in her gruesome accounts.
Other foreigners find themselves being “advised” to go and get married in their country of origin. This advice was given to a person from Guinea living and working legally in Belgium, but who is suspected to wish a “white wedding”. His fiancee is detained at the 127bis centre and continues to hope for a favorable answer concerning their marriage application.
– At the airport, just in transit? Nothing works! Several passengers in transit, who were carrying a visa for another European country and made a stopover in Brussels are being arrested at the airport. They are then quickly and efficiently deported to their country of origin at the taxpayer’s expenses. Welcome to absurd land, but never-mind, as long as it does the trick : boosting Maggie’s figures and surveys show the consequences…
– Try to leave the country without being formally deported:unlucky you, no one escapes Maggie! A man was arrested at the airport in Charleroi, his crime: leave the country himself, since he had received an OQT (Order of Leaving the territory). He found himself detained for 4 months in the closed centre of Bruges awaiting deportation. Just like quantum physics, Maggie’s logic is contra-intuitive but merciless.
– Going to your local administration in appliance with the Belgian law: a little homegrown trap. Frequently we hear of arrests in town halls. SomebigCommunes are excelling in this sport: precarious migrants hunting. A woman was arrested at her townhall (Molenbeek). She came to legalise a document: the employee has found one of her names was different on the document. Suspect element if any, the administration of course never makes errors. Our little zealous employee called the police to report the suspicion. Nobody told us whether he was busysucking a small Vichy tablet at the time! (pastille Vichy are digestive tablets). The woman was taken to a detention centre, then was deported after three months of imprisonment. So do trust your administration, play the game, it will reward you well!
– During driving controls, better drive drunk than undocumented ! Although it is not often mentioned, people are regularly arrested following road controls. An Afghan involved in the current movement of Afghan refugees in theChurch de Béguinage, has been arrested in Leuvenand imprisoned. He was finally released after two weeks, the judge stating in his conclusions that ” the Foreigners’ Office takes irrational decisions.”
–When expulsing from a home, likes to show the multiple facets of poverty ; ” it’s like disco” would she have said. To our knowledge, two people were arrested during the eviction of the Gesù and are currently detained into the centre of Bruges. With Maggie a misfortune never comes alone.
