One may witness a real harassment of the exiles who are arrested in public spaces, transports, stations, and parkings. They are driven to the police station or the identification centre in Steenokkerzeel, most of them are retained for a few days and then released.
In October (see the figures below), the hosts indicated 111 arrests, 73 were released a few days or 2 weeks later.
These retentions are accompanied with threats of return to their Dublin or origin coutries, with the obligation to introduce an asylum request, etc. Several people were arrested several times within a month, brought to closed centres or to the federal police,threatened and then released.
To this harassment, one may add serious administrative dysfunctions, either by the police or the Foreigners Office.
Testimonies by hosts:
02/10/2018 :
« Listen, it is such a mess! The documents they gave him after his release have another name, another country and they relate to other facts… He did not understand anything but didn’t ask a thing and returned to his chances, however the person concerned by this document might still be in the 127bis.
27/10/2018 :
« Quite a lot of aberrations on his order to leave the territory after his release.
The birth date indicated, 01/01/1900, is wrong, the way his name is spelled is wrong, he was not even asked to spell it or check it.
He was given an alias on his order to leave the territory: he doesn’t know this name, they even gave him the Eritrean nationality although he is Sudanese.”
October 2018′ figures from gettingthevoiceout and the closed centres’referents of the hosting platform
Number of imprisonments of exiles in closed centres reported for October 2018: 111
Releases from the closed centres in 2018 = 107
73 arrested in October
32 after a retention of more than one month (six months for some) among whom 19 Dublin deported to the country where they recorded their fingerprints, 5 to Switzerland, 6 to Italy, 4 to France, 3 to Germany and a very lucky one to Great-Britain.
Two were brought to open centres following their asylum request.
Still in retention
39 arrested in October 2018 and 54 arrested during the months before, some being retained for more than 6 months.
13 exiles recently imprisoned, suspected of ‘traffic’.
One Ethiopian went through a forced deportation (with escort) to his country of origin after 6 months of retention http://www.gettingthevoiceout.org/deported-with-escort-to-ethiopia-as-of-the-first-attempt-on-23-october-2018/
Other Ethiopians received let passes from the Ethiopian embassy in view of their deportation.
Not forgetting the undocumented, the asylum seekers, the people considered as ‘threats to public order’ retained in these camps for foreigners.
« Mr D has been living in Belgium for 20 years and he got married here. He was convicted three times for public drunkenness. The Foreigners Office heard of these convictions, they withdrew his orange card because they consider him as “a threat to public order’, they gave him an order to leave the territory for 8 years and placed him in closed centre in view of his deportation to his country of origin.”
NOT IN MY NAME
FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT AND ESTABLISHMENT FOR ALL
Figures for September 2018
http://www.gettingthevoiceout.org/september-2018-francken-and-his-carrousel/
Call to Hosts October 2018
http://www.gettingthevoiceout.org/some-scheming-by-the-immigration-office-21102018-and-testimony/
Background information
http://www.gettingthevoiceout.org/information-for-the-hostsfriendsfamilies-in-case-a-migrant-friend-is-missing/
