Reception of asylum seekers is "disgrace to Belgium", says Amnesty International
The handling of the reception crisis is a "disgrace to Belgium", said Wies De Graeve, director of Amnesty International Flanders, on Tuesday. He was responding to the human rights organisation's latest annual report.
Amnesty International's annual report on human rights is more than 400 pages long. The section of the report dedicated to Belgium condemns the living conditions of detainees, the poor handling of the reception crisis and the restricted right to abortion.
For one, abortion laws in Belgium are too restrictive, says the NGO. As abortion is only allowed up to 12 weeks after conception, many Belgians travel to the Netherlands, where the limit is 22 weeks, to terminate their pregnancies.
"There should be full, safe and legal access to abortion for everyone," says De Graeve. "The current law in Belgium clearly does not comply with this and therefore needs to be changed."
Homeless asylum seekers
On the reception crisis, Amnesty International accuses Belgium of making thousands of asylum seekers homeless by denying them access to accommodation. Meanwhile, many Afghan asylum seekers have been denied protection altogether.
Finally, prisons remain overcrowded and in a state of disrepair, the NGO said. Prisoners have inadequate access to basic services such as health care and sanitation.
The report is not entirely negative. For example, Amnesty praises Belgium for (partially) suspending arms supplies to Israel. The report also mentions its care centres for survivors of sexual violence and the recognition of the crimes against humanity committed by the Belgian state in the Congo.
Human rights in danger
On a global scale, the NGO's report is damning. "Unprecedented forces are hunting down the ideals of human rights for all, seeking to destroy an international system forged in the blood and grief of World War Two and its Holocaust," writes secretary-general Agnes Callamard.
In the report, Callamard makes an explicit appeal to governments to respect human rights and international law. "We are calling on governments to put human rights at the heart of their policies," she writes. "But of course, it also requires commitment from everyone; it depends on all of us."
© BELGA PHOTO ERIC LALMAND
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