Integration in Brussels: from postponement to postponement to cancellation?
January 1, 2022, that’s the deadline. Real! Anyway, it is the most recent and past deadline set by the Brussels government to make civic integration in Brussels mandatory. While the Flemish Community, which is of course involved, is doing everything it can to meet that deadline, there is nothing to indicate that Brussels minister Alain Maron (Ecolo) will also fulfill his commitment.
Meanwhile, the corona figures in Brussels continue to rise and hints the vaccination rate is hopelessly behind. If even the health of the inhabitants of Brussels does not lead to any sense of urgency, then what does?
Fourth time lucky?
The approval of the ordinance that newcomers in Brussels must follow an integration process from 2017. Maron has managed to postpone the deadline three times without hesitation. This newcomers to Flanders from 2004 requires an integration process. Integrators from that time can celebrate the 15th anniversary of their civic integration certificate.
Despite the frequent postponement, January 1, 2022 will be difficult. In fact, impossible. The Flemish Community in no way guarantees steel-hard, which must play an essential role in the implementation of the past year’s void information from the actual Brussels member of the Executive Board. Today we seem to be where we were in 2017: texts on paper with no application to the field. We may be celebrating the fifth anniversary of that approval, and yet within a month we’ll be getting messages again that it was “unfortunately” unsuccessful and that some more time is needed.
Corona excuse
The corona crisis was an outright disaster for many Brussels residents. Alain Maron labeled COVID-19 as the main responsible for the recurring postponement of. Handily communicated, but the truth has its rights. Originally, the start was foreseen in 2019, when the virus did not even exist yet.
In short, COVID-19 is not the cause, but the corona pandemic in Brussels and the lack of compulsory integration have just caused: a lack of preparation, decisiveness, consultation and decisive political action.
Anyone who subsequently looks at the approach to the corona crisis in our capital will become despondent. The Brussels vaccination campaign is not effective enough to break through the antivax and to surprise the citizen with the usefulness of the vaccine. Many inhabitants of Brussels are apparently unreachable.
No integration without compulsory integration
You are probably wondering now: when is that mandatory integration? honestly? I’m very concerned about who will come at all. Ecolo, with Groen following in the wake of the big brother that one does not want to bump into, has always shown himself to be a cool lover of compulsory integration. Men would stigmatize as newcomers and make them worth less.
This line of reasoning is, of course, completely out of place. 20 years of integration policy in Flanders shows that it gives people opportunities to develop their lives independently, to expand social networks and also, among other things by insisting on the required language knowledge, to be strong on the labor market. Newcomers themselves are very happy with that support, according to learning surveys. While Flanders tightens the conditions, Brussels continues to be drowned by dogmatists who revel in their great right to the detriment of the chances of newcomers.
Water on the lips
Because the water is really on the lips of Brussels. The social cohesion in our city is completely shattered. People talk side by side and not with each other. People today live in islands and are sometimes completely out of reach for the government. They hardly speak Dutch or French, they are stuck in their own networks.
Youth unemployment in Brussels is being tackled in a practical way. Brussels is a cosmopolitan city, but above all it is a city where the social fabric no longer really exists. Those diverse origins do not translate into a community of common future. The corona crisis created parallel societies in a world of their own, often far away from any government, media or aid workers.
No miracle cure
Compulsory integration is certainly not a panacea, but it is a necessary start for everyone arriving in Brussels. To increase the chances from the start. Through this trajectory we put newcomers on the road in our society, we give them opportunities, we teach them Dutch from French and we give them an insight into how our society works and what you can do yourself to contribute to it.
Brussels is not a blank slate, but a result of social developments. A cosmopolitan city like Brussels has everything it takes to set incoming newcomers on the way to self-reliance and a place in our society as quickly as possible. Without well-placed citizens, the entire social fabric is standing on loose sand.
The political class in Brussels is world champion of looking away from future and problems, but that way is damaging the capital for the future. In this context, compulsory integration may be the first lifeline that can save Brussels from drowning.