2023-11-20 17:31:00
Thus, the letter from the FPS Justice sent at the end of last week specifies this: “We would like to inform you that the budget granted to the Guardianship service for the year 2023 has currently been exhausted. This means that we can, for the moment, no longer pay your various compensations (flat rate and administrative, reimbursement of travel expenses, etc.). This is also the case for interpreters’ invoices. We are sincerely sorry for the inconvenience this situation causes and we obviously leave you the choice to accept or refuse new missions.”
The letter specifies that payments “might” resume at the beginning of December, but guardians are skeptical. “They simply don’t have any more money and they don’t know when they are going to pay us,” regrets Jean Danis, co-president of the association of French-speaking tutors. “Some may be paid in December but not everyone. Some tutors and interpreters carry out this activity on a voluntary basis, which does not mean free, handling four or five files, but for others, it is the main source of income.”
“The Mena will find themselves left to their own devices in the street”
A problematic situation given that there have never been so many Mena arriving on Belgian soil. Currently, it is estimated that there are more than 3,000 Mena on Belgian soil. “If there is no more money, there are no more guardians, and therefore no more monitoring of the Mena who will find themselves left to their own devices in the street. There will be no future for these young people. They try to compensate on the one hand by making announcements but on the other hand there is no more budget. The letter sent by the FPS Justice was not the subject of any consultation with the associations or the guardians. We learned this overnight,” continues Jean Danis. “In addition, it is unknown whether or not the new counselors will be trained to work with this specific audience.”
Photos Bernard Demoulin: Mena’s guardians © Bernard Demoulin
A curious timing a few months before the elections
The question of the Mena is all the more sensitive when we know that these young people find themselves easily enlisted in criminal networks, particularly around the country’s major train stations. “The fact of acting now a few months before the elections may raise questions. Internally, reactions are flowing. What do the tutors do now? They no longer go to see their young people? We are therefore going to increase the number of tutors but we no longer have any money. I don’t understand this management. It’s more of a firewall than anything else.”
Finally, Jean Danis regrets the sharing of skills in this matter. “The day there is only one competent ministry for the Mena, things will already be better. Because for the moment, we depend on the FPS Justice and Asylum and Migration who continue to pass the buck. The delegate for children’s rights is aware of this situation and questions will take place in parliament,” he concludes.
More than 70% of minors are reported by the police
Most of the minors are boys aged 16 to 18. They mainly come from the following countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Morocco, Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Romania and Ukraine. More than 70% of minors are reported by the police. The others present themselves spontaneously to the Immigration Office in order to submit an asylum application. The number of minors currently in Belgium is estimated at more than 3,000.
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