Brussels to accommodate refugees in hotels
About 500 refugees arrive in Brussels every week. Ten to forty percent of them do not have a shelter. By the end of the year, the Brussels Region will create more reception capacity, but if necessary, Brussels can also accommodate Ukrainians in hotels. That says Ukraine coordinator Peter Michiels.
In the Brussels Region, there are several collective reception facilities for refugees, such as in the former Hotel Leopold in Ixelles (see report below). In total there are about four hundred places for Ukrainians in Brussels. They can stay there until they find a home on the private market, but that search is difficult.
Due to the poor outflow from the reception centers and the continuing influx of refugees – an average of 500 traditional refugees are still arriving at South Station for weeks – many Ukrainians are at risk of ending up on the streets this winter. According to the Brussels Ukraine coordinator Peter Michiels, he estimates that 10 to 40 percent of the coming refugees will not have a place to receive them.
“The problem arose due to the fact that the chain of traffic flow from Brussels to the rest of the country does not work very well,” says Michiels in the BRUZZ studio. Something is especially wrong with the flow to Wallonia, Michiels said earlier this week already indicated. “The flow system must work reliably.”
Hotel reception
The Brussels Region itself has contributed to some of these. As in the former Hotel Leopold, another 200 places in collective reception facilities are to be added by the end of the year. In addition, Brussels will once again appeal to the solidarity of the Brussels citizen. “We are going to the bemyguest.brussels website, where Brussels residents who want to receive refugees can register, activate more.”
If it is really necessary, the Brussels Region will accommodate refugees in hotels. Refugee organizations have been asking for such an initiative for some time, as a remedy against the reception crisis for asylum seekers, something the federal government does not want to hear about. “It’s a life buoy if needed,” says Michiels, “a last resort.”