Protest against immigration policies outside Prime Minister’s office

Amnesty International activists unfurled a banner depicting silhouettes of families with children behind bars in front of the Prime Minister’s office on Tuesday afternoon denouncing the arrival of a first family at the 127bis closed center in Steenokkerzeel. The organization asks the Belgian authorities to “put an end to the detention of children, accompanied or not, for reasons related to immigration. This practice is always contrary to the best interests of the child.”

“Belgium operates today a worrying backtracking,” elaborated the organization. “Rather than justifying the detention of children by the desire to preserve the family unit, the government should, given the need to keep the family together, provide for a presumption against the detention of families and put in place alternatives.”