Belgium: Critical report shames detention centres
01 August 2006
A report on conditions in detention centres for foreigners in Belgium published jointly in September 2006 by the Ligue des Droits de l'Homme, MRAX, CIRÉ, Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen and the Jesuit Refugee Service, offers a critical snapshot of establishments for the temporary "administrative detention" of migrants whose identity has to be ascertained or who are awaiting expulsion.
After a brief introduction to the six
centres fermés (literally "closed centres") in Belgium (Zaventen, Brussels airport; Melsbroek, next to a military airport; Steenokkerzeel, also in Brussels airport; Bruges, Merksplas and Vottem, near Liege), the report goes on to provide plenty of useful data. It estimates the number of detainees based on official figures (8,590 in 2002, 9,345 in 2003, 7,837 in 2004). It provides a breakdown of the population by nationality, with Bulgarians and Poles being the most numerous and by status, with a growing number of asylum seekers whose applications are being examined, although this figure is still marginal compared with people residing illegally in Belgium. It also notes that there was an increase in the number of foreign children detained in 2005.
The number of cases in which isolation is used as a disciplinary measure is rising steadily (616 in 2002, 658 in 2003, 778 in 2004). The average period during which detainees are held is also on the increase, moving beyond the month benchmark in 2004 (33.02 days), with the longest instances extending over 200 days. By law, detention should be "for the time which is strictly necessary", with a two month time limit that can be extended to four months and then by a further month, although this last extension is an exclusive prerogative of the interior minister. As regards the final outcome for detainees, official figures indicate that 5,612 experienced different kinds of "removals" (IOM "voluntary" repatriations, refoulements, repatriations and accompaniment to the border), whereas 1,866 were freed in 2004. The notion of "voluntary returns" is questioned, because:
they involve detained people, that is, [people] who are deprived of their...freedom, who are thus subjected to strong pressure...this does not reflect our idea of what a voluntary return should be, that is, something freely consented to.
The establishment of a Complaints Commission in September 2003 has resulted in 42 complaints being filed, of which only 11 were deemed admissible, two of which were rejected (eight are still under examination). The report notes that resorting to detention is becoming commonplace and is expensive, with a budget of 12 million euros allocated for the running of the centres in 2006.
Finally, the report provides a detailed analysis of two issues: the medical and psychological aspects of detention, and the coercion and violence surrounding expulsions. After noting that detainees in the centres are held as an administrative measure for "illegal residence" without facing criminal charges, the authors argue that their contact with detainees allows them to conclude that "the deprivation of freedom" and detention conditions have an impact on the foreigners' physical and psychological health". They go on to highlight the effects of different stages of this experience (arrest, detention, isolation, the case of minors, hunger strikes) on detainees' health, providing details of specific cases.
As for expulsions, the report notes that the opacity surrounding such practices and the "serious levels of degrading treatment" ascertained during visits and in testimonies made it necessary to devote a section of the report to this issue. After Semira Adamu's death in September 1998, directives were adopted to prevent any kind of constraint involving obstruction of the respiratory system. After the
gendarmes involved in the Adamu expulsion were found guilty by a Brussels court in September 2003, policemen responsible for expulsions in Brussels airport went on