2023-10-22 16:33:00
A new occupation of an empty building by undocumented immigrants began on Sunday, announced the Collectif des Sans-Papiers Bénévoles Intégrés de Bruxelles (CSPBIB). It is an unoccupied hotel, located at number 315 Avenue Louise. It has been empty for two years, according to the collective, and has 69 rooms, currently almost all occupied.
“Faced with the housing crisis, administrative difficulties and social distress, undocumented immigrants are forced to find refuge in empty buildings,” explained the CSPBIB. “Being concerned regarding the situation of these vulnerable people, as winter approaches, we decided to support them,” said the collective, which found the old hotel on Avenue Louise.
“These buildings, mostly abandoned, reflect the inaction of the reception policies of European governments,” he said. “We therefore consider that occupation is a legitimate way of making our demands. There are very many empty spaces in Brussels. There are more than seven million empty square meters. We urge the political authorities to requisition these spaces to house people in need.
The collective also sees in this occupation the means of once once more asking for simpler and faster regularization procedures, carried out on the basis of clear criteria and which are the same for everyone and at all times. Denying someone access to housing, work and health care in a territory where they have lived for many years is not worthy of the rule of law, he said.
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