Disabled Teen Faces Expulsion: Family Fights to Stay in Brussels Amid Center Controversy

As Mohamed was discharged from the hospital on Monday, the management of the Fedasil center wants to transfer him this Wednesday to another center in Antwerp. "Physically, this child is not transportable, it has already been very complicated and painful to bring him back to the center from the hospital," explains the family’s lawyer, who has filed an emergency appeal to prevent any expulsion before the judge’s decision.

The family of Mohamed does not wish to leave Brussels where they have been living since December 2023 and where they have enrolled all their children in school. A few weeks ago, Mohamed’s father attacked a man recently welcomed into the center and accused of having assaulted one of Mohamed’s sisters as well as other women in the center. Since this incident, the management of the center has been trying to expel the family. "It’s a punishment," says Shahin Mohammad, from the F.R.I.D.A. collective. For more than a year, she has been helping Mohamed’s family find accommodation. "These are people without problems. We don’t do this to human beings," he denounces.

The living conditions of the family are deplorable. "From the beginning, my son was confined to a room because his wheelchair was broken. No one at the center helped us to get a new one, until Mrs. Mohammad and her collective came to our aid. We live seven in a room that is not adapted," details Mohamed’s father, who only wants the best for his son. "We came here so that he could receive the necessary care. Now he has been able to go to a specialized school and has even passed his year with good grades. We want him to continue going to his school. The teachers help us on a daily basis to take care of him."

The lawyer is doing her best to prevent the expulsion. "The director wants to punish the parents, not the children, because of the fight," she confides after speaking with the center’s manager. According to the latest news, the center is maintaining its decision to expel, but will not throw the family out on the street. Mohamed and his family will join the Fedasil center in Forest this Wednesday. Good news for the disabled teenager who will be able to start the school year in Brussels, in his specialized school.