17/01/2021 Mr T is in the closed centre and have his belgian wooman and two little children outside.
He want to give his testimony : “I find it inconceivable“
Audio testimony here (FR)
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Transcription of the testimony
I personally have two young children; one is 2 and a half years and the other is 6 months old. And my partner is studying management. We are officially married.
The decision to expel me was taken and I don’t know how this is going to end.
Already now I’m finding it very hard to cope with this situation. The children are far from me and my companion she cannot manage to get by on her own: she has to leave the children at the crèche and then go to university to study, then she has to run all day and pick up the children no later than 4pm, these are the tasks I used to take care of when I was outside.
For me, I find it inconceivable that my children should be Belgian, and I’m married with a Belgian woman, besides my children are very young, they are not old enough to decide. If I am deported, will they follow me to Africa?
And what’s more, if I’m expelled with them to Africa, how will I manage? Are we going to sleep in the street? Because my mother, the only person I had left, died on 29 December. I don’t have anyone left in Cameroon. It’s been nine years since I left Cameroon.
In Belgian, I served eight months in prison, they took me out of prison, they put me in a detention centre, it’s been two months already.
As my children are small, they cannot manage on their own. My wife is also a student, she goes out early in the morning with the children, leaves them in two different crèches, goes to the university, comes back before 4pm to pick them up, prepares the food and everything, you see, it’s not easy.
I think that the reasons why they decide to keep people in detention centres is without explanation.
It’s without explanation, because people who have children, we are not criminals. We are not criminals; we have been told that we are a threat to the Belgian state… no! They did not catch me with weapons, I was not caught with drugs, I have never stolen, I’m not a thief, I’m not a terrorist, so I don’t know why they’re going to keep me here?
Currently there are 6 of us in our group, who came back from Merksplas because we were transferred for two weeks and then we were all brought back. We should have taken the Corona test again today because we are in confinement, they have not taken us to pass the test, the manager is coming tomorrow they will do it, until then, we are confined.
I am diabetic and I don’t smoke, and we are all locked up in a living room which is very narrow for 6 people, with a television and people chain smoke… it’s very hard for me, me who doesn’t smoke, who doesn’t drink.
I tried talking to the management about that… to make them understand that listen, you can’t put us like that, in a small room from 8am to 10.30pm, allowing people to smoke in that small space: we have to do everything in that space, that we’re not allowed to leave to go to bed. It’s my responsibility for those who don’t smoke, because I don’t smoke…”.
