Brussels Youth Groups Seek Dialogue with Mayor After Anderlecht Riots

In this open letter addressed to the mayor, the coordinator of the non-profit organization "Le foyer des jeunes des Marolles", Bilal Chuitar, reported the difficulties of the residents of the neighborhood in complying with the confinement measures, reports La Dernière Heure. These difficulties can be summed up by the small size of the apartments in social housing, the lack of space for large families, the lack of green spaces in the vicinity, the unavailability of internet at home. Not to mention "the powerlessness in the face of abuses, excesses and violence perpetrated by certain police officers".

"We are aware that the situation must be complicated on the side of the authorities and the police [...] It is in this spirit that we are calling on you to collectively propose avenues for solutions in order to ease tensions in our ’sensitive’ neighborhood," explained the coordinator. Even if the fight against the spread of the coronavirus is a major concern, Bilal Chuitar insisted that the two non-profit organizations will not be able to "ignore the calls for help from young people and their families in the face of the injustices they suffer and denounce."

"It is high time to shed light on these realities in order to avoid a definitive social fracture between the populations," the coordinator insists.