Some 80 undocumented persons remained on Monday in the former Astrid Hotel in downtown Brussels despite an eviction notice giving them up to Monday to vacate the building, which they have occupied since 13 September. The eviction notice, issued on Tuesday last, followed a decision by the Brussels lower court in response to a petition by the building’s owner, the Borsalis Hotel Group.
The Voix des Sans Papiers (Voice of the Undocumented) Collective, which is defending the migrants, had announced on Thursday its intention to oppose the eviction notice. It said this was an abusive but increasingly common use of the procedure of unilateral extreme urgency requests to the lower court. According to the Collective, such matters should remain the purview of justices of the peace.
The Borealis Hotel Group insists that the eviction notice remains valid and that the occupiers of the building must vacate the premises on Monday. “The court’s bailiff had a judgement with the force of res judicata, but could not enforce it because there were not enough police officer on site,” the group said.
The Brussels police said no further action would be taken today. “We were just there to check, together with the court bailiff, whether the undocumented persons had complied with the eviction order,” police spokesperson Ilse van de Keere said.
Discussions were to be held later Monday between the bailiff, the Borealis Hotel Group and the police.
The Brussels Times
