The asylum office of the Aliens Office closed after the assault of a security officer

Belgium

This Tuesday morning, the Asylum counter of the Office des Etrangers (OE) in Brussels, where asylum applications are lodged, was temporarily closed following the attack of a member of staff. Theo Francken immediately announced it on Twitter.

23 "vulnerable" people (women, children, patients) had been accepted when a stampede took place. A security officer, who controls identities at the entrance was hit. The doors of the building were immediately closed. The safety officer did not have to be transferred to the hospital and his injuries were minor. Police were called on the spot to restore calm and the box office reopened at 10am. 83 people were finally registered today. The OE will request an increased police presence to maintain order and security from this Wednesday.

By decision of the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, the OE only accepts a maximum of sixty asylum applications per day since Thursday. A decision that several sources working at the Office admit, off the record, do not understand. "People are starting to understand that they will not be accepted tomorrow, the next day, or the day after … Of course, it creates tension, and it's not about to settle down in the days that come are coming", says an agent of the OE.

This badysis is shared by Mehdi Kbadou, spokesperson for the Citizen Refugee Support Platform. "Theo Francken is knowingly creating the situation he is denouncing today and it is indecent, the tension with asylum seekers is palpable and what happened was predictable." Since the limitation of the number of registrations , we see asylum seekers leave at 5am from Ulysses gate – the reception center managed by the Citizen Platform in Haren – to arrive first at the Foreign Office to be sure to be received, which inevitably generates nervousness "says Mehdi Kbadou, spokesperson for the Citizen Refugee Platform. The reception center in Haren offers 350 beds. Yesterday, the Citizen Platform had to refuse 40 people, for lack of space.

As a reminder, the number of asylum seekers has gone up in recent months but the capacity was reduced by Secretary of State N-VA in March, which denounces for several days many badociations as well as the Red Cross. They believe that Theo Francken knew that the host network would be saturated at the end of the year, the organizations being in charge of said reception having warned him several months ago.

In another tweet, Mr Francken recalled that "lasylum seekers come to ask the Belgian population for international protection " and that "starts with RESPECT and it does not include the distribution of blows to officials".