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Brussels breaks down shanty town along railway lines
A group of some 55 Roma who built up a sort of shanty town along the railway lines between Laeken and Jette are to be moved on orders of a justice of the peace. The group had previously been living in a squat in Evere, but when they were evicted from that building, they set about building their own accommodation.
They made shacks out of construction materials, wood and cardboard found around the area and also taken from building sites where the men are sometimes employed. The shanty town (pictured) was spotted by TV Brussel, and brought to the attention of the regional government.
The region’s mobility and public works minister, Pascal Smet, also part of the Communal Community Commission, which aid people in need, said the development was “intolerable” and called on the owner, a private landlord, and Brussels-City to act.
In the end, the owner took the matter to the justice of the peace, who ordered the site to be cleared. “The justice has decided that these people may no longer carry on living there,” said a spokesperson for Brussels-City mayor Yvan Mayeur. “They will be informed over the next few days and then ordered to leave their shacks.”
The group, according to the Brussels social aid organisation Samusocial, has declined blankets, showers and even beds. “They want to stay together as one group”. No arrangements have yet been made for their future accommodation.
Photo courtesy TV Brussel
Comments
I have very little sympathy. If these individuals cannot earn a living or show they are making an attempt to earn sufficient cash to live in Belgium, they should be deported back to their country. Why should Belgium be blackmailed into keeping this group together.
many Roma are unwelcome and lacking documentation cannot get bank accotn jobs etc.
to quote the article and your reference to unemployment,
"from building sites where the men are sometimes employed. "
likely they don't want to be split up.
should we move them on, just like we with the Jews last century, and then hand them over to the next Hitler?
I've read of Roma who send their children to local schools, trying to give them an education, until the government evicts them.