Asylum seekers – WTC III’s capacity reduced by half

The number of spaces for asylum seekers at the WTC III building in North Brussels has been reduced from 1,000 to 500, the Flemish Red Cross has revealed. The decision was made by the organisation and federal authorities, due to the reduced number of people needing spaces. Part of the site will become a “stamp” zone, for asylum seekers who are already registered but haven’t been given accommodation yet.

The WTC III building was opened as a pre-housing centre on the 1st of October, at the request of the Belgian government, to deal with the huge increase in the number of new asylum seekers in Belgium. It is near the North Brussels station. The State Secretary for Asylum, Theo Francken, announced on Friday that the Foreigner’s Office had considerably reduced the backlog of asylum seeker requests over the last few days. That’s why part of the WTC III will be allocated to those who are already registered, but have no accommodation. They are only expected to stay at the WTC III for a few days, the Flemish Red Cross has said. Between now and the end of next week, around 250 registered asylum seekers should be given a “stamp” space. Their situation will then be revaluated.

The rest of the site will be used for those waiting to be registered. If their number increases dramatically, some of them will be moved to the “stamp” zone.

(Source:Belga)


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