CD&V chairman Sammy Mahdi has stated that the government should urgently work on an emergency reception centre for asylum seekers. "I don't understand why there is not unanimity on that while children potentially have to sleep on the streets," he said Thursday on Radio 1.
The core cabinet of the Federal Government met yesterday on the asylum crisis, but a comprehensive solution has not yet been found. Meanwhile, State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor has called for a large emergency reception centre for asylum seekers.
De Moor insists this is necessary to avoid asylum seekers having to sleep on the streets as has been the case in recent weeks, including some families with children. The State Secretary expressed her disappointment on Wednesday evening on De Afspraak television show.
Government inaction
Mahdi (de Moor's predecessor on Asylum and Migration) "fully understands that disappointment", he said during the radio interview and stressed the need for immediate action: "You have to act quickly on that."
"All parties must realise how important this is and I hope that in the coming days the Federal Government will work hard to do what it has to do so that no children have to sleep on the streets."
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Mahdi pointed out that not only Belgium but also other Western European countries like the Netherlands, Austria, France and Germany are struggling with overcrowded asylum reception networks.
He repeated calls to adapt the European Reception Directive to avoid asylum seekers applying for asylum in Belgium when they have already done so elsewhere in the EU.
