2023-10-23 06:45:00
As soon as we enter the parking lot we meet a homeless man of a certain age who lives cloistered between a wall and Heras barriers. Their living space should not be more than five square meters. He has lived and slept huddled there for twenty months. He spends his day writing in a small notebook lit by a flashlight. The man, originally from Rome, is particularly nervous. He is a privileged witness to the tensions that exist in this “parallel world”.
Dramatic situation in the PJF parking lot. ©cameriere ennio
We then rush into a dark alley which leads to the camps, located at the back of the car park. Quickly, we enter a world made of excrement, bottles of ammonia, syringes, cans, canisters of laughing gas, broken glass which litter the ground. Most makeshift camps are made using construction site barriers recovered from the street. Every corner is squatted by these people who occupy the place mainly at night. During the day, they wander around other parts of the capital.
The occupants sleep on the floor or on boxes. ©cameriere ennio
At level 1, cars cannot park as the ground is blocked by waste of all kinds and by makeshift camps where people sleep on worn mattresses, cardboard boxes or on the ground. In any case, motorists refuse to venture into this area as the place seems hostile. The scars of the fights that occurred the day before our visit are still clearly visible.
The occupants of this area are engaged in a sort of turf war. During the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, October 11, a violent fight broke out using, in particular, fire hoses. The ground is waterlogged, the camps upside down.
The scars of the fight are clearly visible. ©cameriere ennioThe scars of the fight are clearly visible. ©cameriere ennio
Even more challenging, this parking lot gives direct access to the PJF buildings as well as other strategic security locations, where decisions relating to the holding of major events, demonstrations and security around major train stations the capital is taken. “The regional and federal governments boast of developing a vast action plan to combat insecurity at the Gare du Midi but they are not capable of ensuring security reigns in their own building that they rent,” criticizes a fully informed source who wishes to maintain his anonymity. “How do you expect them to provide a solution? There are a lot of media outings from department heads, mayors, various ministers, but we should first sweep in front of their doors! This situation is symptomatic of their mismanagement.”
The camps are located among the cars in circulation. ©cameriere ennio
Motorists and employees are devastated. “This situation has persisted for at least eight years. When we ask for action, we are told that it is not the federal police who are responsible but the local police,” explains a member of the PJF staff who uses this parking lot to get to work, used to the situation. “When I pass here, they leave me alone, sometimes ask for money, but in fact, the situation is scandalous.”
“Cleaning” operations at the Gare du Midi: “We have lost track of a good number of homeless people who have vanished into thin air”
Information obtained, the car park, which has a capacity of around 400 spaces, belongs to a private company which plans to carry out renovation work there. The security of the premises is their responsibility, therefore. While waiting for permits to be granted, the parking lot is partially occupied by PJF employees but it remains accessible to drug addicts and the homeless. “Work or not, this place must be secure because the situation is simply incredible,” continues our source.
Secure garage doors will be installed at the end of November
“We are aware of the problems in the parking lot and we have already been consulted on this matter. It is a private place which consists of multiple accesses and which is in the process of renovations. A meeting between the police and the various owners has already taken place. We remain vigilant,” explains the spokesperson for the Brussels Capital Ixelles police zone.
More precisely, BNP Paribas Real Estate operates as trustee by ensuring the management of common areas for this real estate complex held in co-ownership since April 2021. “We are well aware of the problem described, despite rounds and repeated cleanings. We send a cleaning company to remove the rubbish but the employees go there less and less for security reasons because the people who shelter there can be violent. This is why our teams have taken the initiative to order garage doors in order to restrict access to surfaces. The installation of these is planned for the end of November”, explains Pascal Mikse, communications manager.
Meeting with Abdoul, originally from Gambia, left in total poverty
At the back of this dismal parking lot, we find a young man of African origin busy using crack, sitting on a Bolt scooter, while drinking codeine. The first approach is feverish. The young man is reluctant to talk to us. In middle English, he finally agrees to give himself up. His name is Abdoul, 23 years old, from Gambia. He crossed many countries to arrive in Brussels seven months ago. Today, this sinister parking lot serves as his living space.
Abdoul arrived in Belgium seven months ago. ©cameriere ennio
He lives there alongside around ten other undocumented people who sleep in cabins sometimes with posters hanging on the walls, proof that the situation has been going on for a long time. Everyone is waiting for their turn to apply for international protection at the “Refugee Medical Point”, a mobile Red Cross clinic that was set up near the “parking lot of shame”. This space was created following the evacuation of the squat in the building on rue des Palais in Schaerbeek last February.
Abdoul spends his days using crack and codeine. ©cameriere ennio
Members of the voluntary sector are well aware of this parking lot which serves as a “living place” for dozens of people left to their own devices. Several of them are also minors. “It’s a place that we have known for years,” explains Charlotte Bonbled, project manager at the non-profit organization Dune, which helps people in situations of great dependency in Brussels.
“This parking lot allows these individuals to consume their drugs out of sight while having a semblance of security. The floor located on the first level is abandoned. People live there in deplorable conditions, without light, It’s very dirty. They live surrounded by their own droppings in makeshift shelters.”
The situation has lasted for eight years. ©cameriere ennioSyringes and other rubbish litter the ground. ©cameriere ennioThe occupants sleep on the floor. ©cameriere ennioThe squat is done as soon as you enter the parking lot. ©cameriere ennio
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