Ahmad is Afghan. He has been in Brussels for about ten days. “I sleep in the tents there”, he says. The 25-year-old has to sleep outside because he hasn’t been given accommodation. We ask him if he wants to show us the place where he spends the night. “I sleep here. We are 3 in the same tent”he said pointing to a tent. At night, we can’t sleep because it’s too cold. During the day, my friends and I finally sleep in these tents.”
Ahmad knows other Afghans who have been sleeping here for several months. Here is his response to the Prime Minister who ensures that everyone can have accommodation. “Ok, so where is this room, where is this shelter? So that I can go there. The lawyers tell us that we have to wait at least 3 or 4 months.”
A dozen tents lined up on the sidewalk in Brussels. Ahmad is not the only one having to sleep in the cold. “We sleep in the street”says another.
Arunzada has a room in the Little Castle. He shows us his journalism certificate obtained in Afghanistan. “People are sleeping outside, on the sidewalk, they have no place inside… It’s problematic.”
Fedasil confirms to us that there has been a lack of accommodation space since May 2021 and that the situation has not changed since.