The number of prisoners without a bed has jumped by 10% in just one week, as overcrowding once again puts Belgium’s prison system under pressure, according to figures from the ACOD union.
On Monday night, 599 prisoners in Belgian jails had no bed of their own. Instead, they were sleeping on cold, hard floors.
The number of prisoners forced to sleep on the floor rose by 55 in just one week from 544 to 599, according to the union.
“The problem continues to get worse,” Robby De Kaey, Union Representative, told Belga News Agency.
The figures were the latest sign of the pressure building inside Belgium’s overcrowded prisons.
There are currently 13,434 people in custody, while the prison system has 10,795 available places. That is a gap of 2,639 places.
Where are prisoners sleeping on the floor?
The problem is not spread evenly across the country.
In Flanders, 228 prisoners are currently sleeping on the floor, including 68 in Antwerp and 41 in Hasselt. In Wallonia, the figure stands at 214. At Haren prison, 157 prisoners are sleeping on the floor.
The latest figure is still below the record reached earlier this year.
On 15 December last year, 672 prisoners were sleeping on the floor. That number fell to 482 by 12 January, a drop the prison service attributed to the traditionally lower intake of new prisoners around the end-of-year period.
But the numbers soon began climbing again.
On 27 April, the number reached a record 784 before falling back in the following months. Now, as autumn begins, the pressure is building again: 55 more prisoners have ended up sleeping on the floor in just one week.
Prison staff prepare to strike
The latest figures come as prison staff prepare for another nationwide strike.
The three main prison unions: ACV, ACOD and VSOA have called a 24-hour strike from 06:00 on Friday 25 September to 06:00 on Saturday 26 September, according to the strike notice issued by ACV.
The immediate concern is the renewed rise in overcrowding and the growing number of prisoners sleeping on the floor.
But the unions say the problems go beyond a lack of space. They are also demanding action on staff shortages, safety and deteriorating prison infrastructure.
The unions activated the strike notice after talks with the Justice Ministry failed, in their view, to produce sufficient concrete measures to address the problems.
The strike comes just weeks after prison staff carried out a five-day strike over similar concerns, including overcrowding, staffing levels, safety and infrastructure.
