Brussels mayor bans Vlaams Belang campaign

Yvan Mayeur, the socialist mayor of Brussels, has banned a campaign planned by Flemish far-right party Vlaams Belang (VB) that involved mobile billboards inviting illegal immigrants to “go home or go to prison” (pictured).

“We fear a disturbance to the public order,” Mayeur’s office said.

The VB campaign is based on a similar campaign organised by the British government in six London boroughs last summer, which led the deputy prime minister Nick Clegg to criticise the campaign, claiming it was out of step with the tradition of British politics.

The VB poster carries the slogan “Illegal? Go home or go to prison! Returning home? For more information...” and includes phone numbers for the state secretary of asylum and migration and for Fedasil, the federal asylum agency.

“The slogan is in breach of the anti-racism law,” Mayeur said. “The indication of the telephone number of the office of secretary of state Maggie De Block is a way of stoking unrest, which could lead to hostile demonstrations at her office.” The city would take all necessary measures to ensure the ban was respected, he said.

VB had planned to circulate the posters in the centre of the capital today and tomorrow. “We’ve been advised by the police that we’d better not bring them,” a spokesperson said. “At the launch of the campaign, it was clear that the message was a cause of controversy and debate. We’d rather avoid any incidents.”

Filip De Winter, VB’s leading member of parliament, said the ban was an example of “electoral propaganda” and promised the party would get its same message across in other ways. The poster campaign is currently still being planned for Antwerp, Mechelen, Vilvoorde and Ghent.

photo: www.vlaamsbelang.org