September 20 2012 : Phone Interview of a militant of the group SP Belgium, detained in the Merksplas centre in Flanders. He got arrested because he was not wearing his seat belt. ( http://www.gettingthevoiceout.org/empechons-l-expulsion-dun-militant-du-collectif-des-sans-papiers/ ) He refused his first deportation and went on a hunger strike, with the support of many militants. The Foreigners Office accelerated his second deportation attempt under escort that will take place this Friday September 21st. Fouad chose to go back to Morocco to continue fighting for human rights in his country. He may reintroduce a regularisation request from Morocco, but it could take several years. The lawyers will continue fighting and they will go to Strasbourg to claim for this regularisation, on the basis of the legal presence of his brother and mother on the Belgian territory (familiy reunification).
Émission de Radio Air Libre en ligne (FR) : “Fouad, une tentative d’expulsion échouée“
Listen (FR) :
The people are full of hatred here, and it is the Belgian population that pays for that, people here are against the Belgian people.
The people here ignore that there are militants who are fighting for them, there is not enough awareness-raising here.
In the detention centre they don’t like you to talk about awareness-raising, about human rights etc. and if they see you doing that, you can be sure that they will find you a flight as quickly as possible.
If you bother them here at the centre, they will find a solution.
And since you were part of the SP Belgium, that you made a hunger strike, and that there was a demonstration at the Foreigners’ Office, they want to get rid of you the soonest possible.
Yes, exactly. I had a plane foreseen on September 30th and since I asked to make a hunger strike and that I wrote a letter to the Foreigners’ Office and Maggie De Block, they said they would find me a flight as soon as possible, and that’s how I got the plane of September 21st instead of September 30th.
So, the plane is for tomorrow then ? With escort ?
Yes with escort, and I asked to return voluntarily because I stopped fighting and resisting, but they wouldn’t listen to me although I’ve been telling the truth since the very beginning.
Right now I am busy writing a letter with my signature, to say that I want to return voluntarily. I will send it to the Director General of the Foreigners Office and to Mrs De Block, and also to the management of the centre here, to prove that I want to return voluntarily.
You resigned yourself to go home and stop resisting ?
It is not that I don’t want to resist anymore, but my case is special, and if I miss the plane of tomorrow, the next one will be on the 30th, and if not, they will find me another flight, they will not give up, I know I am disturbing them.
Besides, I don’t want to resist in a country that wants to deport me as soon as possible, I don’t want to resist in a system that lets you down, that treats you like a criminal, I don’t want to resist in a world like this.
I suppose you will have to go to the isolation cell very soon ?
Yes… I asked to stay here with my friends and to go to the other block tomorrow, because the plane is at 03:30 p.m, they could bring me there at noon, but they said: ‘no, you’ll be taken to the isolation cell today’.
I don’t like the isolation cell, it’s like if I had done something bad, I don’t like the noise of the keys and of the door, it bothers me.
Well, I hope we’ll still hear from you from Morocco ?
Of course you will, we stay in touch, the fight will go on. I consider myself as a militant, I will stay like that. Even in the village I wil remain a militant and fight for other rights, here it was for papers, there it will be for other things. I will always be at the service of human rights, I will not stop here.
Absolutely no doubt about that Fouad, talk to you soon then !
Good bye ! Thank you !
