The chance on Thursday (at Morocco’s new World Cup match, ed.) derailed again in Brussels is great. Why wouldn’t she? They are not punished there. They are not counted there anyway.’ Flemish Minister of Society Bart Somers (Open VLD) lashed out remarkably hard at Brussels this afternoon in the Flemish Parliament. According to Somers, the Brussels Region and the local authorities fail to act much more ‘firmly and repressively’ against the criminals.

‘In most cities in Flanders, where people with Moroccan roots also gathered, those riots did not take place’, Somers probably said. ‘Even in the city of Antwerp, where they also started again, there was a much more decisive and shorter response to the ball. Local governance can make a difference. It is the task of Brussels and the Brussels municipalities to take their responsibility in the field of safety. If a city council doesn’t do that, it opens the door for negative role models and social tensions.’

No violations

An enthusiastic Somers was also included in parliament on the statement of Vlaams Belang that there is a ‘Moroccans problem’. ‘But not a single Moroccan Fleming should feel addressed after the riots’, Somers supported. “On the contrary, we need to make it very clear that we don’t want them to die. They can express their indignation as citizens of this society, which I appreciate. But no one should call themselves events, the perpetrators. It is always the same criminal youths who abuse a context to cause destruction. That is urban hooliganism and the policy can also tackle that.’

• ‘Rotten apples’ and ‘clean up’: how the political tone is hardening

Some people have also seen that many of those young people were born and grew up in Belgium. ‘This has little to do with integration. It’s about young people who are completely derailed. And if we don’t act quickly, things will go from bad to worse. That makes it even less of a responsibility for local governments. A city can act much more firmly against this if they want to make it a priority. But in certain cities and neighborhoods they let it run its course. That’s how you create a climate of discomfort.’

‘Very well established’

It was not only Brussels that suffered in parliament. Federal Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) and Federal Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open VLD) also received a beating. ‘The core of the problem is police and judicial,’ Somers pointed the guilty finger at, among others, his fellow party member. “We must ensure that there is no impunity.”

But in the first place, the local authorities are therefore the driving force, probably Somers. A mayor can make a difference. But if, of course, you reduce your prevention work and youth work to a number of people who help to make excuses and who can do nothing but take up diapers, then you are doing it wrong. You have to create a framework and set standards for young people, you have to address the parents and talk to the schools. You have to draw lines. That is also in the interest of the young people to give them a future.’