March 2025
Since the beginning of 2025, we have been told by detained people, family members and associations of the presence of minors in closed centres.
Following the campaign run in 2016 by organisations and citizens entitled ‘We don’t lock up children. Full stop’, the detention of children for reasons relating to migration was banned in 2024. The Belgian State can therefore no longer detain minors in closed centres. And yet, many minors find themselves separated from their families and locked behind these walls while awaiting deportation. We would like to share with you some of the situations that have come to our attention.
A young minor detained in Bruges
On 20 January, a teacher told us that one of her students had been arrested during an interview she had accompanied him to for an asylum application in Brussels. The 16-year-old had been living with his family in Belgium for several months, and was in possession of his passport (which showed his age). Last September, however, a bone test determined that he was not a minor anymore. This, yet again, proves the irrelevance of bone tests and other medical examinations claiming to be able to determine a person’s age.
He is now threatened with deportation to Poland, the country in which he left his fingerprints when he arrived in Europe.
Three minors detained at 127bis
On 12 January, detainees alerted us to the presence of two young minors in the 127bis centre in Steenokkerzeel. They were aged 16 and 17 respectively, and one had been detained since December 2024 and the other since January 2025. The Immigration Office did not recognise the documents in their possession attesting to their minority status and decided to make use of a bone test to confirm their age. This test determined their ages to be 18 and 21 respectively. The minors were threatened with deportation to Croatia and Austria, the countries in which they deposited their fingerprints.
The other detainees expressed their concerns about the presence of the two young people in an environment permeated by tension and violence. They tell us: “One of the young people cries all the time. He’s really suffering.“
On Tuesday 28 January, one of the two young boys, J., was deported in the morning on a flight to Croatia. Despite his determination to resist, he was taken away by force, handcuffed hand and foot, and accompanied by several police officers. One visitor said:
“J. regularly spoke about the harsh conditions of detention and the general repression of those locked up. However, he was still hopeful that he would be able to stay in Belgium, where all the people he knows live.“
The other young boy, S., is said to have finally agreed to return to Austria to end his detention.
A third minor reportedly arrived at 127bis on February 4th. A bone test was reportedly ordered to determine his age, but we have no further information to date. He was placed in isolation upon arrival.
Minor boys detained at Merksplas
During the week of February 17th, we received reports from various detainees about the presence of minor boys of Afghan origin in the center. We have had no news of them to date.
The violence of detention should not be imposed on anyone, regardless of age, origin, or personal history. But confinement in a center is even more violent and destructive for vulnerable people. We do not believe in our country’s immigration laws, yet the Belgian state does not even respect its own.
