Belgian TV Host’s Equipment Stolen During Racism Segment, Sparking Debate

Things get out of hand on the show "Je vous dérange" hosted by Christophe Deborsu. On the agenda: the issue of racism in Belgium. During the broadcast, one segment particularly caught the viewers’ attention. At the end of a filming session, Christophe Deborsu was the victim of a theft at Brussels-North station. His video equipment was stolen while he was waiting for the train to return home. "I’ve just had all my equipment stolen, the bag was right behind me, next to my briefcase," he explains.

Shortly after, a woman who observed the scene approaches Deborsu to explain that she saw an individual taking some equipment. However, she was unaware that it was a theft. The perpetrator of the theft is of North African origin, the woman, also of the same origin, revealed to him. She apologizes for it. This is enough for the presenter to make a generalization after boarding the train.

"As I speak to you now, I can’t help but think that Belgian of foreign origin = distrust," he says, before apologizing. Afterwards, Deborsu explains to Patrick Charlier from Unia, with whom he spoke, that he "tended to generalize very quickly." "If I have a bad experience and there’s a visible characteristic, I’m going to tend to say: ’They’re all like that,’" his interlocutor replies.