Fact check: Yes, the holes in the roof of a Brussels squat were made deliberately to deter asylum-seekers.
A couple of weeks ago a film was doing the rounds on the internet that showed workmen making holes in the roof of a building in Brussels that was being used as a squat by asylum-seekers. Several organisations that help asylum seekers say that holes were being made in the building with the specific aim of trying to get the asylum seekers to leave. VRT News’ fact checkers have found out that this was indeed the case. However, the building is ready to be demolished and asbestos is currently being removed from it.
In short: But are these claims true? The answer is yes. The Federal Agency responsible or investment in Brussels’ function as a capital city Beliris says that it had asked a building firm to make holes in the roof of the building. Beliris is in charge of a project to demolish the Allee du Kaai warehouse.
The warehouse is ready for demolition and asbestos is currently being removed from it. Consequently, conditions in the building are unsafe and Beliris hope that making holes in the roof of the building would serve to deter people from squatting there.
After a tent encampment near to the Klein Kasteeltje asylum centre in Central Brussels was dismantle some of those that had been sleeping there went to the empty Allee du Kaai warehouse on the Havenlaan in Brussels’ North District.
Asbestos issues
The office of the Mayor of Brussels Philippe Close (Francophone socialist) says that the building is currently in the hands of Belris, the federal agency responsible for projects that support the Brussels-Capital Region in its role as the Belgium’s capital.
Beliris’ spokeswoman Elien De Swaef confirms that Allee du Kaai is one of the agency’s projects. "This is a building that will soon be demolished to make way for a park. Demolition work is currently underway and asbestos is being removed. The walls are unstable. This means that the situation there is very dangerous".
This explains why some of the police officers that went to the warehouse were wearing white overalls and special protective masks. Ms De Swaef admits that the workmen had gone to Allee du Kaai at Beliris’ request. However, she denies that it had been Beliris’ idea to make holes in the building’s roof. "The initiative didn’t come from us. The local police advised us to make holes in the roof and acting on this advice we called our building contractor”.
Dissuasive action
The Brussels-Capital-Elsene Local Police Service says denies that it advised Belris to make holes in the building’s roof. Spokeswoman Ilse Van de Keere told VRT News that "This was not done on the instructions of the police. The police point the finger at the office of the Mayor of Brussels Philippe Close that in turn says that we should contact the agency in charge of the project Beliris. Meanwhile, Beliris claims that it was only acting on the advice of the police.
When we called the Mayor’s office for a second time, Mayor Close’s spokesperson said that the order to take dissuasive action had indeed been given. However, who exactly gave the order remains unclear. The police say that it was the Mayor and the Mayor’s office says that the information we are looking for is with Beliris.
The evening before the asylum seekers were evicted Mr Close’s office reported received a memo from Beliris concerning the deplorable safety condition inside the building. Acting on this someone will have taken the decision to render the building permanently unhabitable.
Mr Close’s spokeswoman Carole Poncin told VRT News that "This is a procedure that we follow to render dangerous buildings uninhabitable”. However, Ms Poncin would go any further into the measure taken; making holes in the roof, by did says that “all kinds of means” are deployed “to prevent people from remaining in such buildings”.
Fairwell party
At the end of February, the not-for-profit organisation vzw Toestand that had used Allee du Kaai as meeting place and location for activities to promote social cohesion, closed. Around 2,000 people attended the closing down party. Most of those were unaware that the building is being cleared of asbestos and as such is no longer safe.
On Sunday 12 January a group of asylum seekers headed for a building that is soon to become the headquarters of the National Crisis Centre in Brussels. Meanwhile, the Brussels regional authorities say that a solution has been found regarding accommodation for the asylum seekers that had been staying at Allee du Kaai.
Conclusion
- Video footage of workmen making holes in the roof of building where asylum seekers had sought refuge was doing the rounds on social media. The holes had been made allegedly to drive the asylum seekers away.
- This is true. The agency in charge of a project to demolish the building Beliris had received orders from the police to drill holes in the roof. The Allee du Kaai building is ready to be demolished and asbestos is currently being removed from the building. This means that there are health risks.
- The Mayor’s office confirms that there are safety issues and says that because of this the order had been given to take action to dissuade people for entering the building. This is a standard procedure if a building that is being used as a squat is deemed to be dangerous.
- VRT News’ fact checkers consider the assertion that workmen drilled holes into the roof of the building to drive the asylum seekers away to be true. However, this was done in the interests of their own safety. The wall of the building are not stable and asbestos is being removed which poses a potential risk to health.