Brussels has become a squat city

There is no escaping it in Brussels: squatters enter one building or another every week. Brussels has become a true squat city, with squatted buildings being regarded as an alternative shelter circuit for (illegal) migrants. The risks cannot be underestimated: fires in squats are commonplace. Brussels MP Mathias Vanden Borre has lodged complaints about the policy of tolerance of Brussels policymakers several times at both the regional and municipal levels.

Tolerating squatters who occupy a building against the owner’s wishes, and – more importantly – not executing judicial eviction orders, is totally unacceptable. “Why must ordinary citizens pay because the government fails to provide sufficient shelter or organise a proper return policy? Moreover, this is not only problematic for the owner of the property in question and the local residents, but also for the squatters themselves, who often live there in inhumane conditions. It seems that the judges are also getting tired of certain mayors categorically refusing to execute judicial eviction decisions,” says Mathias.

Culpable negligence

Squatters in buildings - often illegal migrants - pose major health and safety risks and cause a considerable nuisance in the vicinity. “Tolerating squats is therefore nothing less than culpable negligence. I refer to my anti-squatting plan, which proposes five priority measures that should put a stop to the phenomenon of mass squatting in Brussels,” Mathias concludes.