Brussels police clear 13 squatters from former retirement home

The local police zone Brussels West on Monday morning raided the premises of a former retirement home which has been occupied for two years by a group of undocumented migrants and asylum seekers, reports Het Nieuwsblad. Thirteen people were arrested.

The building was at one point occupied by up to 200 people, most of whom had already left on their own initiative by the time the police arrived, reported Françoise Schepmans, mayor of Sint-Jans-Molenbeek where the building is located.

A group of undocumented migrants lived in the squatted building on Avenue Leopold II since July, 2014. They received support from organisations such as the anti-racism movement MRAX and La Voix des Sans-Papiers, which held several demonstrations and protests at the site for months leading up to the forced evacuation.

"In the beginning, there were few problems," said mayor Schepmans. "The building was in good condition. But the group grew to about 150-200 people, which was too many for a building with 45 rooms. The heavy rains have also affected the building and now an engineer has determined that it is no longer safe. We gave the residents until 1 September to leave of their own accord."