Asylum seekers sleep rough on the streets of Brussels
October 28, 2022, 4:30 pm

Asylum seekers sleep rough on the streets of Brussels - Photo. Anadulo Agency

Asylum seekers who want to apply for international protection in Brussels, the capital of both Belgium and the European Union, are being forced to sleep on the streets due to reception centers having no room to spare, the Anadolu Agency reported.

Those who want to apply for asylum line up outside of the offices of the Belgian Federal Asylum Seeker Reception Agency, called "Petit Chateau" (Small Castle), starting in the early morning, it said.

As the refugee reception centers are full, most of these people are forced to spend the night on the streets, as they are removed from outside the center at the end of the day.

On early Friday (Oct 28), a makeshift tent was set up along the canal in front of the Petit Chateau. Dozens of people were sleeping on whatever they had for comfort and warmth: quilts, blankets, beds, and mattresses.

Some 200 people, mostly nationals of Afghanistan and the small East African nation of Burundi, sleep in front of a building reserved for Ukrainian refugees in the Schaerbeek district.

Asylum seekers who want to apply for international protection in Brussels, the capital of both Belgium and the European Union, are being forced to sleep on the streets due to reception centers having no room to spare - Photo. Pixabay

While refugees from Asia and Africa get a cold response, Belgium fast-tracked the applications of Ukrainians fleeing the war, giving them the right to residency and work permits, as well as access to social welfare, housing, and livelihoods.

This crisis in Brussels, which has been going on for more than a year, flared up in recent weeks with at least 21 child refugees sleeping rough on the streets.

UN agency: Over 100 asylum seekers evacuated from Libya to Rwanda

Although authorities said additional shelters would be built, nothing changed. NGOs provide these people with as much food, clothing and health support as they can.

"People spend the night on the street in the biting cold," said Sotieta Ngo, director of the non-profit organization Coordination Initiatives for Refugees and Foreigners (CIRE).

Report: Greece pushed back nearly 42,000 asylum seekers since 2020

"Belgium doesn’t want to become attractive for refugees," she told Anadolu Agency earlier.

Noting that the introduction of local aid systems by municipalities would solve the problem, the NGOs say the state avoids taking this step in order not to draw more refugees to apply for asylum.

Source: aa

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
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Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
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