“Mahdi’s approach creates chaos”

“Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Sammy Mahdi is organising the chaos with his approach to Ukrainian refugees.” That is what N-VA chairman Bart De Wever said in several media appearances this weekend. “The regular asylum reception facilities are overcrowded – largely with people who are not even entitled to asylum – and now Mahdi’s #plekvrij (place available) campaign is saying to citizens: ‘you take care of it’.”

“You have to show your heart in this kind of urgent situation,” says Bart De Wever, indicating that he is not against private shelter per se. “But as a politician, you have to keep a cool head in these situations. Mahdi could have avoided this chaos. If you know your business and thought about it, this situation could have been avoided. It is now three weeks into this war, and we still don’t know exactly how it is all arranged.”

No thought given

“Sammy Mahdi went everywhere proudly proclaiming that he had obtained the status of ‘temporarily displaced persons’ in Europe for Ukrainian refugees. All well and good, but in Belgium, that automatically means granting health insurance, child benefit, a growth package and a living wage. Plus the additional guarantee of bed, bath and bread. No thought had been given to that.”

Provide collective reception

“This is not the first refugee crisis we have faced, but apparently, no lessons have been learned from the past. However, it is quite clear: provide collective reception, where we can provide education, psychological and medical follow-up and even guidance towards participation in our labour market. Now we might get 100,000 refugees, all on a living wage, who are going to plunge into the regular housing market. The slum landlords are rubbing their hands.”