Prime Minister Alexander de Croo has so far refused to make an exception to the normal asylum and immigration procedures for hunger strikers. Two of the seven parties in his ruling coalition – the Socialists and the Greens – have announced that they will leave the government alliance should people die. If they left, the government would be at an end.
The migrants come mainly from South Asia and North Africa. Some have been in Belgium for more than ten years. They managed to make a living, but are suffering particularly badly from the corona crisis, which has forced many cafes, restaurants and other businesses to close. Since they are in the country without papers, they cannot claim any state aid.
The Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, Sammy Mahdi, has appointed a mediator and designated a place where migrants can get information about their rights and obtain official status. “We will not have a separate policy for people who strike or occupy premises,” Mahdi said. “There are 150,000 undocumented migrants in our country and it would not be right to treat 400 people differently.”
