City of Brussels will fine beggars accompanied by children
A new municipal law was adopted on Monday by the Brussels City Council, stipulating that beggars accompanied by children under 16 can now be fined up to €350. The city of Brussels has noticed an increase in the number of beggars since the end of Covid measures.
The city of Brussels wants to tackle the problem in various ways. First of all, police officers who come into contact with beggars with children under the age of 16 must remind them of the ban on begging and the obligation to attend school for children between the ages of 5 and 18.
In addition, street work and preventive work is reinforced to raise awareness among the target population and to offer them a listening ear and psychosocial support. The city also guarantees begging parents that children aged 0 to 3 will be given a place in one of its reception centres, and that children aged 3 to 18 will be able to enrol in one of its schools. In both cases, the City of Brussels will bear the costs.
If preventive work is not enough, sanctions may be imposed. All beggars with children under 16 can be punished with an administrative fine of up to €350 per person.
"We hope to find a good balance between solidarity and our social policy, but also the protection of the child. We have tried to do this by putting nuance and objectivity first. We hope that this will be effective on the ground, but we will evaluate the results in a few months", explains Brussels Mayor Philippe Close.
A recent report by the Public Order Department of non-profit organisation BRAVVO shows that 83 families, made up of 271 beggars of Romanian origin, are considered by the police services to be professional beggars within the Brussels Capital Ixelles police zone. Ten percent of these beggars are minors. Since the beginning of this year, the police have intervened 33 times in the pedestrian zone and in Nieuwstraat with beggars with children. Sometimes children were involved in active begging.
© BELGA PHOTO-Olivier MATTHYS/OMA