The migration chaos reveals Brussels’ administrative failure

“Brussels is the best example that the open borders model based on human trafficking is ultimately inhumane and destructive.” For Brussels MP Mathias Vanden Borre and MP Theo Francken, it is clear: Brussels itself created the migration chaos it denounces.

Transmigrants have been camping at the Brussels-North railway station and the Canal Zone in Brussels for some time now. There is a lot of waste, people relieve themselves there, and there is a smell of urine. Violence is also on the rise due to drug trafficking, prostitution and theft, which is causing an increasing feeling of insecurity among commuters and local residents.

Brussels is in direct opposition to federal asylum and migration policies

A number of Brussels mayors are trying yet again to get the federal government to pay for the insecurity and reception problems in the Brussels North district. “The North district has become a European hub for transmigrants in recent years due to the Brussels left-wing policy. They see the district as a stopover to further plan their journey to Calais and the UK. Brussels is thus in direct opposition to the federal asylum and migration policy. The current situation once again reveals the administrative chaos. In the past, this was blamed on the then Secretary of State Theo Francken. The reality is that the Brussels authorities have brought about this situation themselves,” Mathias Vanden Borre and Theo Francken say.

Brussels mayors write a threatening letter to the federal government

In a letter to the federal government, three mayors threaten to close a number of entrances to the North Station and demand that the federal police enforce law and order in the problem district if the federal government does not make more resources available for security in the North district and the reception of transmigrants. “The mayors argue that the Minister of the Interior can intervene in problems of public order that extend over the territory of several municipalities. However, this must be done in subsidiary order, and it is actually the turn of Prime Minister Rudi Vervoort (PS). He can also commandeer the police. Why don’t they write him a letter? In that letter, they can also ask why the Region is actually financing illegal transmigration,” Mathias Vanden Borre says.

The N-VA has always opposed Brussels as a hub for transmigration

“As far as the reception of illegal transmigrants is concerned, the federal level has no legal obligation whatsoever to provide this. In 2018, when I was still Secretary of State, they also sent the bill for the reception of transmigrants to the federal government. They didn’t get any of what they wanted. The N-VA has always opposed such a transmigration hub. Everyone knows that the Brussels system is not sustainable, because it accommodates people who do not want to stay in Brussels. These people choose not to follow the legal procedures, even though they would be entitled to bed, bath and bread if they did. They choose to stay in Brussels illegally, and the region facilitates this,” MP Theo Francken says.

Brussels continues to pump massive amounts of money into the reception of illegal transmigrants

“Brussels is not authorised for the reception of illegal transmigrants. Yet the Brussels government continues to pump massive amounts of money into it. Of course, there is a pull factor with a lot of nuisance. By 2021, almost EUR 4 million in funds will flow to the transmigration hub in Schaerbeek, the former Porte d’Ulysse. In addition, a large day centre for illegal immigrants is being financed in Brussels, again with millions of euros of regional aid. Brussels is the best example that the open borders model based on human trafficking is ultimately inhumane and destructive,” Mathias Vanden Borre and Theo Francken conclude.