Getting the Voice Out reports that on 4th April a hunger strike begun in a wing of Merkplas migrant prison. Within hours the poiice had transferred the hunger strikers to other migrant prisons or had put them in segregation,

Meanwhile a Kurdish male had been on hunger strike for the past week in Vottem migrant prison. CRACPE (Collectif de Résistance Aux Centres Pour Etrangers) and a Kurdish community group have called for a demo outside the centre at 4pm tomorrow, 07/04/12, to show solidarity.

At the time of writing (23rd March) there are 23 sans-papiers who have been on hunger strike for 70 days. They are demanding a work permit for a minumum of one year. A demo has been called for Thursd  ay 29th March at Gare Centrale in solidarity with their struggle.

Tomorrow, Sunday 18th March, there will be a march from the centre of Liege to the closed detention centre at Vottem to denounce closed centres and demand an asylum policy which truly respects human rights.  The march is taking place on the 13th anniversary of the opening of Vottem and has been organised by CRACPE, Collectif de Résistance Aux Centres Pour Etrangers. 

On 6th March a number of activists gathered outside the office des étrangers in Brussels to protest against the deportation of 20 people on a military plane to Kinshasa.

During  the afternoon of Sunday 18th December,  the Belgian government’s main immigration office, the “Office des Etrangers” near Brussels’ Gare du Nord station, was targeted by masked protestors. Some windows were smashed, walls were spraypainted, and fireworks and items of street furniture were thrown inside.

Earlier that day a massive police presence had stopped people from demonstating outside the the site of a new detention centre near Brussels airport.

At 2pm on Monday 18th December there will be demo outside “le Caricole” detention centre which will shortly open next to 127 bis detention centre at Steenokkerzeel near Brussels. “Le Caricole” is a state-of-the-art building which is being sold by the Belgian government as a  “humane”  detention facility.

In the Belgian port town of Ostende, there is increasing repression against the scores of migrants (including minors) that stay in the nearby jungle. Up to 20 people per day are locked up for 12 hours for “disturbance of the public order” when walking around the harbour; sixty new cells are being built. IDs are being checked at food and clothing distribution centres; a homeless centre has been forced to close down.

In response to this repression, a group of individuals have come together to form Ostende No Border. They are asking for help and donations, please contact onbegrensdoostende[at]yahoo.com

Today, Monday 7th November, the 43 detainees of 127bis detenion centre at Steenokkerzeel near Brusseleas have begun a hunger strike. They state that they do not accept their imprisonment and their treatment as criminals. They demand their liberty and their dignity.

On Sunday 16th October there will be a demo outside 127 bis detention centre at Steenokkerzeel near Brussels demanding the closure of all detention centres and freedom of movement for all. The demo aims to give people the chance to see what happens in these places of “non-rights”. You can download a flyer for the demo (in English) here.