No overall plan yet against prison overcrowding, but agreement on mentally ill offenders

The federal government's core cabinet has approved a plan to reduce the number of internees in prisons. These are people who have committed a crime but who have a mental illness and therefore do not really belong in prison. The top ministers have not yet agreed on a broader plan to tackle prison overcrowding.

On Friday, the federal top ministers met again to discuss a broader approach to prison overcrowding. This issue has been causing increasing tension within the government recently. They were unable to reach an agreement, although according to some ministers, the discussions were heading in the right direction. The discussion will continue next week.

The core cabinet did give the green light to a plan of health minister Frank Vandenbroucke to reduce the number of internees in prisons. These are people who have committed a crime but who have a mental illness and therefore do not really belong in prison. Despite previous measures, there are still more than 1,100 internees in prison.

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In the long term, the measures in the approved plan should keep 1,490 internees out of prison. Over a period of two years, the plan would affect around 300 people, according to Vandenbroucke.

One of the aims is to add new forensic psychiatric institutions in the coming years. In the short term, small modules will be added to the existing forensic psychiatric centres in Ghent and Antwerp. In addition, hospitals will be called upon to offer forms of care to internees. And there will be a reinforcement of the mobile teams that can offer care in places where people stay when it is sufficiently safe – at home or, for example, in a facility for people with disabilities – but not in a hospital or prison.

There are also plans to review and amend the Internment Act, a task for justice minister Annelies Verlinden. This should also help to reduce the influx of internees. The number of internment rulings is currently on the rise.

^{Prison of Mons © PHOTO BELPRESS}

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