BELGIUM

Romani Travellers in Belgium were the focus of increased police attention and harassment on the pretext of enforcing emergency social distancing measures. From the 18th March, the Federal Government adopted new measures in response to the emergency decree allowing urgent measures for limiting the spread of the corona virus. These included restrictions on freedom of movement and gatherings of people which adversely affected Romani Travellers living nomadically in large family groups and without a fixed address. On the 4th and 5th April, police operations took place concerning two groups of Travellers living at unofficial sites in Jumet and Couillet respectively. The police exclusively targeted members of the Romani community with the aim of seizing their caravans, which were also their homes. Multiple police cars arrived at the sites alongside a large number of armed federal police, dressed all in black, to deal with what the police said was a routine vehicle check. “The police arrived on the site at around 3:00 pm on 5th April, 2020, fully armed with weapons, and disproportionately many, in around 7-10 police cars” said a Romani man from Couillet. “Me and my family were parked with our two caravans in an open area belonging to the municipality as we were forcibly evicted from the previous site where we resided legally…the police searched and seized the two caravans. I bought my caravan a year ago from a private person and have documents proving that. The four of us adults in the family were arrested for interrogation and taken to Charleroi police station. During the arrest a police officer used a racial slur calling us “dirty gypsies”. The interrogation lasted for about two hours. I was asked whether I wanted a lawyer to be present but refused because I just wanted to finish as soon as possible and go back to my children whom were left outside depending on me. The rest of the adults also signed the documents without understanding their content. For instance, my daughter-in-law only speaks Dutch but the police refused to speak to her in a language other than French. She signed without being able to read the documents, while in pain from her pregnancy and having a little child waiting for her outside the police station.” The police officers seized four caravans from Jumet and Couillet, without a warrant, while being verbally aggressive towards the Romani families who were ordered from their homes along with all their belongings, which were dumped on the ground next to them. The four people arrested at Couillet were released without any charges being brought against them.

The affected Traveller families were made homeless as result of the raid, without being offered any alternative housing solution, social aid, or COVID-19 emergency support. When the father in Couillet asked the police where they would live after the confiscation of their homes, the police told them: “You gypsies can arrange it among yourselves”. The families also heard the officers say of the caravans “this is one we missed last year”, indicating that the police operation was connected to the May 2019 raids on Belgian Traveller sites. The 2019 operation, codenamed “Strike”, mobilised over a thousand police officers to raid 19 sites around the country to seize homes and freeze bank accounts of innocent people who were collectively punished for the crimes of a few. In Couillet, the Romani man who was arrested also noted to the ERRC that back in 2019, his caravan was searched by the police multiple times, but no problem had been detected back then. The families affected by the recent police operations included minor children, a pregnant young woman, and persons with serious health conditions who found themselves sleeping in the open air or sharing overcrowded caravans together with other Travellers, without being able to practice self-isolation. Their living conditions were made extremely dire by the police actions and they were left completely dependent on the help of those in their immediate vicinity i.e. other Travellers, friends, and/or relatives. After the raids they had no access to public water or toilets, proper nutrition, health care services, or medication. Children had not been fed properly for days and were not able to follow online education. Additionally, the pregnant young woman had no access to a gynaecologist, and those with serious health conditions were running out of medicines because none of the adults were able to work or freely move around because of the government confinement.

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