Various human rights organisations have come together to urge the Council of Europe to force Belgium to legally recognise the right to beg in cases where begging is necessary to preserve human dignity.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) recognised that the right to beg is protected by the European Convention on Human Rights for the first time in the Lacatus vs Switzerland judgment in 2021. It stated that if people in poverty are hindered from meeting their basic needs through begging, their human dignity is violated. A general ban on begging is therefore not permissible under any circumstances.
In Belgium, begging was removed from the Penal Code 30 years ago. However, 305 of the country's 581 municipalities have regulations on the practice, 253 of which contain "problematic" provisions which violate human rights.
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) – through its Belgian member organisation Ligue des droits humains (LDH) – and the movement Agir tous pour la dignité Quart monde (ATD Quart monde) have therefore lodged a complaint with the European Committee of Social Rights (part of the Council of Europe). They are calling for full recognition of the right to beg in Belgium.
Contravening rights
The FIDH and ATD Quart monde said in a statement on Monday that they want the right to beg "exercised in order to live or attempt to live in accordance with human dignity." They stressed the need for it to be enshrined in law throughout Belgium, and called for an end to the criminal and administrative sanctions applied to beggars.
Begging remains unavoidable in many situations, they argued. The practice is banned outright in one commune in six in Belgium. Elsewhere, restrictions vary: begging is permitted except on Sundays, not allowed in front of the station or the cemetery, prohibited in shopping streets, after 18:00 and so on.
The organisations argued that most of these restrictions contravene several rights enshrined in the European Social Charter, which the Belgian State has ratified. This includes the right of the family to social, legal and economic protection and the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion.
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Restricting or banning begging is also aimed specifically at the Roma population, making Belgium responsible for discrimination, the plaintiff argued.
"30 years after the decriminalisation of begging, it is time to put an end to the current contradictions and to local regulations that restrict or even prohibit people from begging. Begging is just one symptom of growing poverty. It is this poverty that public policy must condemn," they said, adding that criminal penalties or administrative fines imposed on people who beg for a living must also be abolished.
