December 13th 2011 – Testimony by a young Congolese woman (18 years old) detained in the closed centre 127 bis.
Listen to the interview (FR) :
[audio:http://gettingthevoiceout.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/témoignage-congolaise-13-déc.mp3|titles=témoignage congolaise 13 déc]Fichier à télécharger (clic droit – enregistrer sous)
Today, you were told that you should get yourself prepared to leave?
Yes I was told that.
Which country are you from?
I’m from Congo. I am 18 years old. I have problems there in my country. My mother is living here. I already had introduced a request through an organisation at the embassy. My mother is legal here, she has a Belgian ID. If I came with false documents, it was not on purpose or because I absolutely wanted to come to Belgium; it is because this general wanted me as his third wife.
You are the third wife of a general?
Yes, I would be his third wife, but he is 68 years old. I refused. I could not stand the shock.
Because you did not want to marry him?
No I did not want to marry him, he is 68, I am 18, I have a long future ahead of me!
Therefore you took the plane to escape the general?
Yes, that’s it…. I wanted to reach the house of my grand-mother over there. I don’t know what to do, I don’t know where to stay. The best solution is that I go to the Belgian embassy as soon as I get there to seek for asylum. I arrived here on August 11th. I was directly brought to the centre.
Could your mother come to visit you at the centre?
Yes, my mother always comes to visit me.
And they refused to give you the asylum?
Yes they refused.
Since when have you been here at the centre?
It has been four months. I refuse to be deported.
How many times did they try to deport you?
Three times, the third time was on November 21st.
And now they are planning to deport you another time?
Yes, today, for the fourth time.
Today at what time?
Around 7 p.m… it’s always like this.
And will you resist?
… I don’t know what to do anymore. And if they deport me, who is going to pick me up at the airport?
Was it hard during the deportations? How did it happen?
It is really hard, they handcuffed me, and also tied me, even my neck.
They tied you the neck? Not the hands?
Yes from the neck till the hands.
Going from the neck till the hands?
Yes from the neck till the hands, and also handcuffs, there is no way you can move. I shouted.
Do they speak to you in a harsh way? How is it?
It is not easy, it is very harsh.
And this time did they also say they would deport you by force?
Yes they did. The second time it was by force, I fought. The third time I fought too. And today is the fourth time, I don’t know yet actually…
And how is it in the centre?
It is really bad.
Are there other Congolese people?
Yes there are.
And what kind of advice does the social assistant give you?
They are just there to dishearten me and tell me I should leave.
Yesterday I was not feeling well. When I asked for medicine they refused. Today the doctor said that I must go. It is a way to deport me, to lock me up over there and to directly bring me to the airport. I understand all their games. I said I would not leave.
I was told that some passengers and the captain of the plane had refused to accept you on board?
Yes they refused.
Who refused? The passengers or the captain?
Actually it was the air hostesses.
Why so? Was there too much violence?
No, it is because I had poo all over me…
That’s a good mean indeed.
Yes, they could not accept me like that.
So they said that under these conditions they had to bring you back to the centre.
Yes.
Were they violent with you?
The second time they had beaten me, but the third time they had not.
What happened the second time?
The social assistant… the second time, the other one had given me a slap in the face.
Who had? A police officer or the social assistant?
A police officer and a man who had beaten my head.
OK, we wish you good luck. Remember that there are people who are trying to do something for you and who are spreading the information.
Following a last deportation attempt, this young woman was released with an order to leave the country. If she had not resisted all those threats, she would be in Congo today.
