The City of Brussels wants to sanction beggars accompanied by minors under the age of 16 years from the city centre, and is expected to adopt the regulations on child begging on Monday evening.
If the motion is adopted, every police officer in the commune of the City of Brussels (Brussels 1000) will be required to enforce the ban against street beggars accompanied by a minor under 16 years old. They will also be required to remind them of the mandatory education for children aged 5 to 18 for whom the beggar is responsible, reports Bruzz.
Parents will also be made aware of the possibility "of enrolling every child between the ages of 3 and 18 in a city school and having the city pay the full cost of schooling, including lunches for children in primary school."
"The purpose of the ordinance is not to punish, but to guide," the administration said. "The city is strengthening its neighbourhood work and prevention activities to proactively reach out to this population and raise awareness of the importance of a safe and satisfying living environment for children."
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While immediate mediation will always be preferred over a sanction, a fine of €350 can be imposed in case of recidivism within 24 months.
Such regulations are already in place in Liège, Charleroi, Namur, Tournai and Etterbeek. In fact, most large cities in Wallonia and Flanders have already stepped up controls on begging. “It is the case in all major cities, except Brussels,” David Weytsman (MR) said in early March, when his party proposed a similar motion.
Recurring problem
Begging by minors is a recurring problem in large urban centres, and the political debate about how to solve the issue has been going on for a while. Since 1993, begging has not been banned in the Brussels-Capital Region, but it can be regulated by the cities and municipalities.
The City of Brussels has been working on a regulation on the subject since 2017.
For years, many beggars have been gathering in the Rue Neuve, according to the homeless unit of the Brussels Capital-Ixelles police zone, Herschambrigade. They also stated: "Some nights, up to 70 people stay here, often with very young children and on the ground."
Since the beginning of the year, the Herschambrigade has already carried out 33 interventions in the pedestrianised zone in Rue Neuve with beggars accompanied with children. Identity checks were always carried out to make sure that the children were not there on their own. According to police reports, social assistance is "almost systematically refused by beggars."
'Persistent problems'
At the start of March, Brussels politicians Bianca Debaets and Mathias Vanden Borre – who tabled the motion – wrote an opinion piece to denounce the lack of action, calling begging "a stain on the honour of our capital city."
They wrote that people stay away from certain areas and businesses on the Place De Brouckère have shut down because of the "persistent problems" with beggars.
"In recent years, several appeals have been launched to tackle both begging and public drunkenness. We have already taken some steps in the right direction in solving the latter problem, but far too few solutions are being sought for the first major problem," they said. "It is therefore high time to put another action plan on the table."
While Debaets and Vanden Borre stressed that these people, often families with children, are in a precarious situation and absolutely need help, allowing them to continue begging on the streets is not helping anyone.
"Children should not be on the streets but in a day-care or in school, and the adults should be directed to shelter structures, so that they can get their lives back on track," they said.
'Not reinventing the wheel'
They proposed five measures to "ensure that beggars can no longer cause a multitude of nuisances," including investing in shelter initiatives such as Housing First and Social Support and a stricter and more consistent approach by the police.
They also propose that those who harass people are taken in for questioning and then taken to a homeless centre or social service, where they can receive the necessary care and guidance.
Mapping out the professional begging gangs (with or without children), and establishing a begging-free zone on central avenues, at outdoor cafés and ATMs is also imperative, according to them.
"Brussels does not need to reinvent the wheel, as we have already seen that this approach is effective in other cities," they stressed. "Solidarity and generosity should certainly be possible, but intimidation and aggression should never be allowed."
