2023-07-29 07:20:00
RTBF produced a report on unaccompanied minors coming from Morocco and Algeria and left to fend for themselves. “Here at the Gare du Midi, it is often an audience that comes from Morocco or Algeria, […] they come for rather economic reasons. They are very vulnerable because they are very young and alone,” says Anna*, who is part of the SOS Jeunes team. She and her colleague travel the same route – the rue des Vétérinaires tunnel, on the Anderlecht side, a corridor of darkness – every Friday to meet foreign minors around the Gare du Midi. Anna said that there are many young people sleeping in the middle of the tunnel, “because it is sheltered from the wind, sheltered from the cold”.
To read: Moroccan minors in a critical situation in Brussels
These homeless minors benefit from several services every Friday afternoon. A van equipped with a washing machine and another with a mobile hair salon are moving towards the Esplanade de l’Europe, next to the Gare du Midi. Without forgetting the distribution of meals. The SOS Jeunes team meets a group of young people. Among them, a young man who lost a finger in an “accident”, “probably a settling of scores that went wrong”. “He received treatment […] It’s also part of our job, we try to support them with medical procedures,” says Anna. Two others are asking to “change accommodation center”, “because they are in a Fedasil center where there are very strict rules which make it difficult to stay there”, adds- she.
To read: Who is Félix Mora, the “official” recruiter of 80,000 Moroccan miners for the Houillères?
While a good number of foreign minors are homeless, some manage to find accommodation at Fédasil, the Red Cross, the SAMU social or elsewhere. “We manage to accommodate only a small part. It really depends on the day. And especially after the fire that there was at the citizen platform in the center of the Porte d’Ulysse. There was a loss of 250 places,” explains Maddalena, from SOS Jeunes. But not all reception centers can be visited. This is the case of DoucheFLUX. “Every day there are fights, violence, all that… And thieves. You understand ? That’s why I’m not going there! says Ibrahim*, a 17-year-old Algerian who joined the SOS Jeunes team.
*Assumed first name
1690617888
#tragedy #Moroccan #miners #Brussels