Testimony from Y. – December 2025
Y. arrived in Belgium as a child and has lived there for over 25 years. Some time ago, he spent several months in a closed center, first in Vottem and then at 127bis. During his detention, he shared his testimony and his perspective on immigration policies with us.
“It’s an open-air colony; it’s pure colonialism. There’s no other word for this situation; there’s no other way to describe it. Here, under the pretext of not having a residence permit, they lock you up. They treat us like slaves; it’s nothing else.
Even though we’re all in the same boat, seeing people like that [affected by mental health issues] is a real shock. I hate the Belgian state. It’s truly abusive; it proves they really have no heart.”
They don’t care; they manipulate people here. We have so-called “social workers”—they’re fakes. They work for the Immigration Office to deport us. That’s what people say. A person might go into their room and hang themselves. Honestly, just give them ropes while they’re at it. They’re dehumanizing people. It’s ridiculous. It’s just a label—“social workers”—they’re Immigration Office coaches. You can cry, you can talk about your kids until 2030, it won’t change a thing. Is it legal to manipulate people like that? I’ve never seen that in any country, honestly.
This is clearly a colonial project. Nothing here is right. There’s a lot of abuse of authority—it’s as if Europe thinks they’re the only one in the world, but they’re not. They’re shooting themselves in the foot. I don’t want to talk too much about politics because it’s a huge debate. But if my whole family weren’t here, I would have already asked to be deported from here. It’s a country I wouldn’t want to stay in. It’s a mess. Belgium is a bankrupt country with high taxes. Believe me, people aren’t fooled: we don’t come here by choice. We come out of necessity, because we have family here—in the hospital, in prison, or because we were lovestruck. We don’t necessarily want to stay here long-term. To be clear, I’m not talking about the country itself—it’s very beautiful and there are some truly welcoming people. But Belgian politics are the real problem; they’re not welcoming. When you realize how expensive it is here—it’s beyond our means—it’s impossible. People are living on starvation wages; I’ve never seen anything like it. And it’s only getting worse. All these new laws from the new government… it’s a disaster. What do people here think? Politically speaking, this country is unstable. Honestly, give me an example of a country in the world that has a government and is a kingdom? It makes no sense.
But hey, that’s just how business works, as they say. The rich will always stay rich and the poor will always stay poor. Things have to change. Or you have to go against the system, but then people see you differently.
When you don’t have a residence permit here, your voice isn’t heard in this country. Unfortunately, I arrived in Belgium when I was around 11 or 12, and I’m too used to it. I know the system all too well. You can do whatever you want, and nothing’s going to change. It’s the people in power who decide. I respect the organizations. The collectives give a little hope. But that’s not enough. Everything needs to be questioned in Belgium. The media, too. When you’re a citizen of a country, you see the realities of your country through your own eyes, but the media reports it differently. That sets off alarm bells. The media works for the state; it should be about freedom of expression. What they say in the newspapers is false—always stigmatizing and making sweeping generalizations about Black and Arab people. Frankly, Belgium is turning into a colony right now. And there’s too much power in the far right, which is only going to make things worse. There’s always hope; that’s how I was raised. When you want something in life, you’re on your own.
We can’t just wait for a new president or a new government. No one is going to magically come along and change all the laws. We have to take the bull by the horns and form collectives. Protests and strikes are useless; deep down, they just serve the state. Whenever there are peaceful marches, there’s always violence and destruction caused by the police. It’s horrible what’s happening with the police in Ixelles, in Molenbeek… The police are everywhere and justice is nowhere to be found. It’s all over social media. Not long ago, I saw a collective helping homeless people find shelter, and the police evicted everyone. I saw the videos—it’s going crazy. But it’s only the people who are talking about this, and it’s only people of foreign origin who are talking about this. It’s crazy. Nothing is respected—it’s crazy. People are in danger with the police. Nothing is respected. They killed a young man in a park and the culprit got off scot-free. The cops do whatever they want. It’s pure and simple racism. I come from a working-class neighborhood; if you saw it with your own eyes, you wouldn’t believe it. Then they try to paint foreigners in a bad light, even though we’ve got our hands on our hearts here. We help you out. Honestly, it’s pure and simple racism; we aren’t racist at all.
What I don’t understand is that we have inexhaustible resources on Earth. How could human beings have destroyed that? People even want to hoard that. Europe really wants to live in an era that doesn’t exist.”
Y. was released in February! His words resonate in our hearts and in our collective struggles for a different world.
Our thoughts are with him and all his comrades, inside and outside.
FIRE TO THE DETENTION CENTERS
FIRE TO THE BORDERS
SHAME ON THE POLICE
SHAME ON THE IMMIGRATION OFFICE
SHAME ON THE COLONIAL AND RACIST BELGIAN STATE
