Today, 184 nationalities live together in Brussels.  Together they form this cosmopolitan region. The Belgians form the largest group, followed by the French, the Romanians and the Moroccans. Every day new people arrive and others leave. They all have their dreams, hopes and stories. These stories colour the story of Brussels.

The MigratieMuseumMigration gives a permanent home to the stories of the first generation of guest workers, of the earliest inhabitants of the Petit-Château, of the expats, the war refugees, the Europeans who move freely within the EU and many others. It is a warm environment where visitors can discover Brussels and the lives of others through memories and souvenirs. Above all, it is a museum with plenty of room to share your own story.

The MigratieMuseumMigration will never be finished. In this way, the museum is also a symbol of the constant dynamism of Brussels.

Here is the program of the opening day.

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The organizer, Christelle Delbrouck, wrote on the Facebook Page:

« In order not to forget the immeasurable losses caused by this Europe of Hatred, we will regularly read, in the public space, the list of these victims (published by United for Intercultural Action). We will start Monday, August 12, 2019 in front of the Berlaymont. And we will start the next Monday, again and again. Because these Humans do not displease their executioners, have existed. And that these deaths are part of history. And when it comes to accountability, they will be part of it. »

The post states: « For many years, Europe has hardened its laws towards the poorest. Today, we want to draw attention to the catastrophic situation imposed on Exiles by our deadly and criminal European policies. Every day, because of this Fortress Europe, men, women and children die on the roads of exile. And our leaders, as the only answer to these horrors perpetrated, « sell » human beings to confirmed dictatorships to guarantee the impermeability of borders. These Exile.e.s are at the mercy of traffickers, slavers or extreme police. They suffer rape, torture, slavery, prostitution, without any reaction from our responsible Europe. Worse, when some people manage to escape their detention, by flight or after giving in to the blackmail of their executioners, they clash with a Mediterranean that has become a cemetery by blocking rescue boats and criminalizing NGOs. »

« And if they manage to land, they are abused, criminalized, parceled, forgotten, insulted by our national governments who reject them, creating a breeding ground for the rise of extremes. Since 1993, more than 40,000 people have died as a result of Fortress Europe’s criminal policy. The figures are probably even more important since the count of these disappeared is only via the NGO United for Intercultural Action. Our countries do not deign to make an official census of their own crimes, as if these people did not exist, had never existed and deserved no respect. Not to mention that many people have disappeared without there being any trace of their passage on earth. »

Their demands are:

• Legal and safe migration routes.
• The unconditional respect of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for ALL human beings.
• The recovery of rescues at sea.
• Stopping spending on buffer states that have proved unworthy to deal with the migratory cause (Libya, Turkey, etc).
• Effective and humane reception facilities for the Exiles to provide them with the security, housing, food, education and legal advice they may need to rebuild, settle and become human again.
• Decriminalization of the solidarity of citizens, associations and NGOs towards the most vulnerable people.

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Migrants recently forcibly displaced from the station are currently squatting in Maximilian Park, located just a few hundred metres from the station. The Mayor of Brussels, Philippe Close, and the Brussels Capitale-Ixelles police did not wish to comment on any further possible police or government action at this stage.

Three migrants were apprehended on Wednesday by the Brussels-North police as they tried to settle in the De Lijn bus station and the Stib tram station at the Gare du Nord. “Two people were ordered to leave the area and a third person was reported to the Office des Etrangers. The latter person has since been released,” said a spokeswoman for the Brussels-North police.

The police’s stated goal is to get the migrants to leave the area entirely. The police also states that it has provided the migrants with necessary information on the Samusocial, Red Cross and Citizen Platform reception centres.

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The assembled panel, which consisted of an academic, an artist, and a professional activist, explored a number of different issues relating to climate change and migration flows. It was followed by an equally lively Q&A session with the audience.

The panel’s preliminary remarks

The first to speak was Alice Bell, a former historian of science and now Head of Communications at the UK-based climate charity 10:10. Dr Bell noted how, despite increasingly anomalous weather patterns and noticeable food price fluctuations in the West, it is still relatively easy – and common – for Westerners to “insulate” themselves from the worst effects of climate change. She went on to emphasise the need for citizens everywhere to work collectively to combat the significant threat that climate change now poses for the possibility of organised human existence. Moreover, she highlighted the importance of people around the world thinking of themselves as a collective, or, as she put it, “as globally-engaged citizens”.

Next to offer his remarks was Kooj Chuhan, a digital artist, filmmaker, and activist. Mr Chuhan stressed the need to overcome what he called “psychological distancing” among Western citizens. According to Mr Chuhan, this is the tendency among Westerners to regard people of the Global South – including, but not limited to, those most adversely affected by climate change – as unimportant, or indeed irrelevant, to their individual concerns. Mr Chuhan went on to remark upon psychological distancing’s relationship to geographical distance, claiming that the two often, if not invariably, correlate with one another. Lastly, he noted its historical connection to colonial discourse, in particular the Western tendency to ‘Other’ those suffering abuses for which we in the West are largely responsible.

The third and final panelist to comment was François Gemenne, a FNRS senior research associate at the University of Liège and a leading specialist in environmental geopolitics and migration dynamics. Two of Dr Gemenne’s remarks were particularly noteworthy. First, he pointed out that, although migrants have (rightly) received a large amount of recent media attention, and elicited a significant degree of sympathy and concern in the West, a sadly neglected class of individuals is the non-migrant: this is the person who is unable to leave his or her country of origin due to (e.g.) poverty, age, or lack of education. Dr Gemenne argued that the (climate) non-migrant is at least as deserving of the West’s sympathy and concern as the migrant is.

Second, Dr Gemenne argued forcefully that the categories used by Westerners to think about climate change and migration need to be reassessed. In particular, he claimed that the conceptual distinction between the “economic” and the “climate” migrant is largely a Western construct, which is not recognised by citizens of the Global South whose economic livelihood is often heavily, if not wholly, determined by climate fluctuations. Dr Gemenne also argued that we should regard climate change as a form of persecution toward the world’s most vulnerable citizens, and that “climate migrants” should (also) be regarded as economic migrants as well as political refugees, given that the majority of them leave their countries of origin as a result of Western policy decisions.

The Q&A

Further interesting questions and topics were raised by the panellists and members of the audience during the Q&A.

Dr Bell argued forcefully – and to the universal agreement of both the panelists and the audience – for lowering the voting age to 16, her reason being that it is young people who stand the most to gain, and lose, by contemporary climate-impacting policy decisions. Both Mr Chuhan and Dr Gemenne then emphasised the importance of education in climate activism, with Dr Gemenne in particular stressing the need for informing current policymakers rather than just young people. “We need to educate our 60 year olds, rather than just 16 year olds,” he said. “Otherwise, by the time the 16 year olds of today are in power, it might already be too late to save our planet.”

Dr Gemenne then went on to highlight the importance of fighting climate change not merely as a consumer, but as a citizen. “It is not one’s flights, or one’s car use, or the meals one eats that contribute to emissions,” he noted. “It’s the money in your bank account, invested by banks in fossil fuel companies in order to ensure high interest rates for depositors.” Dr Gemenne also argued that if we continue to think in terms of individual consumption behaviour as the sole means to effect climate action, it would be a “huge victory for neoliberalism”.

Finally, both Dr Gemenne and Mr Chuhan emphasised the need for pragmatism among climate activists. In particular, Dr Gemenne noted that, although the overthrowing of capitalism might perhaps be desirable in the long-run, activists must be realistic: the best chance of saving our planet, he argued, was to try to find a version of capitalism that is environmentally sustainable. “We need to make capitalism prioritise long-term, rather than short-term profits,” he said. This sentiment was echoed by Mr Chuhan’s own remarks about the need for “Hopeful Realism”, that is, a realism that “remains hopeful, but that doesn’t deny what needs to be done to affect positive change in the world”.

The post “We must fight climate change not merely as consumers, but as citizens” – panel discussion at Full Circle House appeared first on Brussels Express.

The demonstration has attracted 12,000 people who were ready to join the extreme-right in this movement.

Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region, Rudi Vervoort as well as the mayor of the city of Brussels, Philippe Close have released a joint statement stating: « Following the Regional Security Council during which the mayor of the City of Brussels announced his intention to ban the event scheduled for Sunday in its territory and on the basis of operational information issued by the police zone Brussels-Capital Ixelles indicating that the event could spread to other areas, the Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region will take a decree prohibiting any event on the entire territory of Brussels.« 

Bart Claes took off to social media to add: « We can do something as an organizer of the march against Marrakesh. We are currently thinking about further steps. Even a procedure with the Council of State is on sight. We will not leave it that way. There will be sequels. »

Similarly, press officer of KVHV Antwerp added: « We will still protest Sunday against the pact on migration of Marrakesh. » Justifying that they are basing themselves on the right to assemble and the right to freedom of opinion. They stressed on the fact that the goal is a peaceful demonstration without violence or confrontation with the police.

Rudi Vervoort calls it a ‘brown walk’

The Minister-President once again confirmed the ban of the event by stating that the protesters on Sunday will be in a breach.

Rudi Vervoort further justified the ban after the fears expressed by the city of Brussels. As information has been circulating on social media regarding the intent of some hooligans to cause trouble, Rudi responded: « I understand that Theo Francken and the N-VA distanced themselves. If that is so, I think the term ‘brown march’ makes sense. »

 

View this post on Instagram

 

STOP MARRAKESH! ✋ Ga naar www.stopmarrakesh.com en teken de petitie! 🦁 De regering-Michel wil begin december het omstreden Marrakesh Immigratiepact (Global Compact for Migration) ondertekenen. Dit pact is een onomkeerbare stap in het volledig uit handen geven van het nationale immigratiebeleid en zal onvermijdelijk massale immigratiestromen op gang brengen. #stopmarrakesh #marrakesh #Vlaanderen #Flemish #migration #identitaire

A post shared by Leeuwen Vrienden (@leeuwenvrienden) on Nov 23, 2018 at 1:15am PST

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Following the Regional Security Council during which the Mayor of the City of Brussels has announced its intention to ban the far-right demonstration scheduled on Sunday in its territory and on the basis of operational information issued by the Police Zone Brussels-Capital Ixelles.

Philippe Close and Rudi Vervoort said that, « it is out of the question to let that kind of demonstration take place in Brussels. »

They added, « We do not intend to let propagators of hatred and violence tarnish the tranquility of our capital this weekend in December. We intend to preserve a calm, serene city where it is good to live and enjoy during this time of the year. We made the decision to ban all gatherings and demonstrations on the Brussels territory this Sunday. »

The Flemish daily De Morgen reported on Tuesday that hooligans from various Belgian football clubs had also pledged to take part in this march against Marrakech.

This ban will have consequences on other events scheduled this Sunday, given the impossibility of controlling the authenticity of each. The Mayor of the City of Brussels and the Minister-President have these demonstrators to contact the police authorities to reprogram their action in good order.

The post March Against Marrakech banned throughout the whole Brussels Capital Region appeared first on Brussels Express.

A number of right-wing organizations have announced that they are organizing a march against Marrakesh on Sunday, in order to protest against the UN Pact on Migration.

The requests for authorization have not yet been approved but they are being processed.

The final decision rests with the mayor or Brussels-City, Philippe Close.

The post Authorizations for a march against the UN Migration Pact as well as one supporting it have been requested to Brussels Mayor appeared first on Brussels Express.

Organizers statement

The Marrakesh-compact has made a new victim. After a failed attempt by the Prime Minister to keep his federal government and coalition together, he was forced to seek supportive votes in the opposition. Meanwhile the government has fallen and the ministers, whom didn’t agree on the terms of the compact, have all been replaced.

Although the voice of the 2014 elections still echoes throughout the political landscape, the Prime Minister is reluctant to hear the people’s voice. It seems clear to us that politicians no longer concern themselves with the will of the people. Our politicians do not longer represent the voice of the people. That is why it is a must to raise our voices, louder than ever before. We need to show the Wetstraat what people really care about.

United we stand to say NO against a new wave of mass-migration. No against yet another political game of ring-around-the-rosy. No against politicians who neglect the public opinion.

To carry out this message we organize a demonstration on Sunday 16th of December. This is a symbolic date as 2 days afterwards the compact will have to be signed by the minority-government in New-York. We can’t just stand by and watch, we need to show the will of the majority. The people who don’t want that compact to be signed.

The post Belgian Nationalists call for a march on December 16th to show their discontent with the UN Migration Pact appeared first on Brussels Express.

Supported by a large parliamentary majority, the MR, the CD & V, and the Open Vld want to approve the Pact, which will be adopted in Marrakech on December 10th and 11th. The Prime Minister Charles Michel committed himself on 27 September to the UN platform after a classic decision making process that brought together the administrations and ministerial offices concerned.

The parliament calls on the government explicitly to approve the Migration Pact. The N-VA voted against the resolution, the same as Vlaams Belang and the Popular Party.

The N-VA is against the pact

The ministers have agreed on the very favorable Belgian position, which was decided on the 12th of September. However, a series of of European countries have announced that they would not support the Pact, including Austria’s conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. The nationalists have reviewed their judgment: although the text is non-binding and asserts the sovereignty of states, they fear that its provisions will bind Belgium in the future because judges would use it to counter the government’s policy.

For two weeks, the N-VA has been hammering out its opposition. Group leader in the House, Peter De Roover, and the Secretary of State, Theo Francken, invoke the sacred value of the sovereignty, « DNA » of the nationalists, facing an international order that dispossesses the states of their powers.

On the contrary, supporters of the Pact insist on the need for a multilateral framework for effective migration policy and recall that the provisions of the Pact are in no way contrary to Belgian policy.

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The Federal chamber has shown intentions to vote in favour of the UN Migration Pact without the support of the N-VA. This stance is not surprising after several leaders of the N-VA have expressed their strong opposition over the last days. “Belgium should not adhere” to the Pact, Theo Francken, the State secretary for Asylum and Migration, stated on Thursday morning. “The Pact is not binding, but it is not legally risk-free,” he added. He, however, did not mention any possibility to leave the government.

The debate on the Migration Pact has been in the air for several days, and it resulted in a difficult position for Charles Michel (MR). While the Belgian Prime Minister, as well as the CD&V and Open Vld parties, have been supporting the Global Compact Migration; the N-VA, which is a very significant ally in the current government, has been being fighting against it.

On Wednesday, the « External relations » committee of the Chamber had approved the text, with the support of an alternative majority, composed with MR, CD&V, Open Vld, cdH, the Green party as well as sp.a.

Although some political leaders were not sure about the participation of the N-VA during the debate ahead of the vote at the Federal chamber, Jan Jambon, the minister for Home affairs, came.

Bart de Wever, who leads the N-VA, has told on Monday his political family would resign from the government in case the Pact is approved by the Chamber.

Will the vote result in a massive crisis, the end of the current government and new elections?

On the night of Saturday, December 8th, an exceptional meeting at the Belgian Federal Parliament was held.

Stay tuned.

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