340 asylum seekers slept at the reception facilities in Brussels’ WTC III building on Thursday night. The centre has been open since September 7th and can accommodate 500 people 24/7. Over 5,600 people have so far been registered by the so-called pre-accommodation services, and no new arrival has been turned down for lack of beds since the centre opened, pointed out Nancy Ferroni, spokeswoman for the Red Cross, on Friday. The Red Cross are in charge of reception at the site.
Of the 340 people who spent the night at the WTC III, 140 were scheduled to go to the Immigration Office on Friday for the second time.
5 floors on the other side of the WTC III, accessed from Boulevard Simon Bolivar, are to be gradually set up for the reception of up to 500 people if need be, for a total of 1,000 beds. For now, 120 new beds will be made available in the next few days.
Both sites are open 24/7. Facilities made available to the occupants are showers (17 per site), storage for their belongings, a medical centre, Wi-Fi installed free of charge by one provider and hot meals. The camp beds have been replaced by bunkbeds, more comfortable and a better use of space. On arrival, the refugees are given an ID badge, a toiletry kit, disposable bedsheets and a blanket. They are free to come and go at WTC III and stay until they are summoned to the Immigration office and transferred to a holding centre.
(Source: Belga)
