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Extra temporary housing for asylum seekers in Belgium
Starting this week, Belgium will offer extra temporary housing for asylum seekers to handle the growing number of applicants, particularly from the war-torn Middle East.
The plan, approved on Friday, calls for mobile housing units to be set up on sites operated by the Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Fedasil).
A total of 900 asylum seekers are expected at the temporary centres, where they will receive food and lodging until they are moved to official reception centres. The latest move comes in addition to 2,500 extra places announced by the Belgian government earlier this month.
Fedasil will oversee the temporary housing arrangements in co-ordination with the Red Cross and Belgium’s Ministry of Defence. The government has also set up a new asylum task force headed by Theo Francken, the federal state secretary for asylum policy, to react quickly to changing circumstances.
The panel, which includes representatives from the relevant government departments, including the prime minister’s office, is due to meet at least once a week.
Photo: Line outside the Office for Foreigners in Brussels earlier this month
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Hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers are slowly moving north. The Kos and Calais problem will soon be our problem. Everyone feels sorry for them but we are also encouraging traffickers. I do not understand why the rich Arabic speaking countries (Gulf states) do not step forward and providing asylum/housing/food etc. The wealthier European countries are already complaining about immigrant problems from poorer European countries. This added burden from countries outside Europe will cause many problems. EU countries do not have sufficient housing for their CPAS and homeless, how will we cope with others who "jump the queue"? Would it not be better to build refugee camps in North Africa and the Gulf States and stop the boats from crossing the Med? Vast numbers of people are making lots of money ferrying immigrants across the sea -- we are aiding and abetting this mafia.