[TW accounts of physical assaults]
While things are slowing down over the summer, the detention and deportation machine continues to traumatise detainees. A number of them have described incidents of violence that are part of everyday life in detention, accounts that echo many others and reveal the deep-rooted and systemic nature of the mechanisms of intimidation and domination that operate with complete impunity.
Beatings and solitary confinement at 127bis
Several eyewitness accounts mention a particularly violent reaction by staff on 31 July following the lunchtime meal. One inmate asked the permission to work on cleaning the meal trays in order to earn some money¹. This was refused. As a result, 7 members of the security team arrived, beat him and tied him up. On 2 August, we once again received numerous testimonies from detainees who witnessed this attack, which is said to have been extremely violent. They are asking us to take action and report the incident. The man was then sent to solitary confinement.
Some fellow inmates told us:
“They bludgeoned and demolished a guy because he wanted to work. It was just a provocation. He didn’t do anything.”
“This guy was ill; is that seriously how you treat ill people where you come from?“
“He looked like a parcel.”
Another elderly inmate was also attacked by staff at 127bis at the end of July. This happened after he complained about the conditions of his detention and the fact that they wanted to force him to take medication. He was told: “You’re just another pain in the arse, get out”. Members of the security team then came to get him in his room and told him “you’re going to to solitary confinement because you’ve spoken out of turn”. They put him down and tied him up before sending him to the isolation cell. A week later, he was still suffering from scars, pain and dizziness.
“I don’t trust doctors or social workers. You say one word, they put you on the floor, they throw you in the dungeon like a dog.”
Announcement of an escape from 127bis
Every now and then we get some good news. On 31 July, a young man managed to climb over the railings and escape. We wish him well!
A week earlier, it seems that there had been an escape attempt.
One inmate suggested that the beating that took place after lunch might have been intended to divert attention from the successful escape. Reigning terror rather than cultivating hope…
“Instead of regularising people, you torture them”.
A few weeks ago, a former inmate of the Merksplas detention centre, now released, denounced the overall treatment of all detainees, the dehumanisation and criminalisation of undocumented migrants by the state. According to him, the prevailing political and media discourse, increasingly influenced by far-right ideas, is reflected in the way the staff in detention centres behave towards detainees.
“The way the social worker talks is bizarre. She forces people to go home. You forget that I’m a human being just like you. But the authorities have allowed you to use people like that.
If you complain about bad food, they put you in solitary confinement. It’s just not right.
How can you keep someone here for 12 months? There are 3 people here who have been here for 12 months. Others, 8 months, 10 months.
Why force them to leave like animals?
Instead of regularising people, you torture them. Stop lying to your population. How many undocumented migrants are there in Brussels? If someone doesn’t have papers, how do they live? They’re going to become criminals on the streets. The government is the source of this crime. Why are foreigners here? To contribute to the country.
Television channels show the insecurity in the country. But who’s at the root of it? It’s the government. Have you no shame?”
