You have already heard it in the newspapers and on television. On July 21, the thirst strike was stopped and the hunger strike interrupted. This decision was made after hours of negotiations. The Secretary of State promised that the existing rules on regularization will be interpreted in a more humane way in the future. The law will not change, but its application will take into account long-term residence and integration in Belgium. Over time, more people will be recognized in this way. Thus, progress has been made not only for the hunger strikers, but also for others. However, the files of the hunger strikers will all be declared admissible, while for the non-hunger strikers, it is still applicable that they have to prove that they cannot submit their application from their country of origin.
Currently, the activists are each preparing an individual file. We have asked them to leave the church before August 15. However, in order to prepare files, it is important that everyone can be reached quickly and easily. Especially for the most vulnerable people, there is a risk that the lawyers will lose contact and the quality of the cases will be compromised. This is why the occupation will continue for a few more weeks. We will keep you informed of further developments.

Le vernissage de “On est là!” a été un succès. Merci à celles et ceux qui ont été présents. L’expo montre des photos et des histoires de femmes sans papiers qui protestent dans l’église. Une visite de l’expo est encore possible jusqu’au 17 juin inclus, tous les jours entre 9h00 et 17h00. Nous vous conseillons vivement de combiner cette visite avec une visite de l’expo “Re Set” qui est également à découvrir à De Markten. Nous tenons encore à remercier De Markten pour avoir prêté son espace à l’exposition, Machteld Van den Camp pour avoir traduit les textes, Jean-Claude Deblander pour la relecture et Sihame Jebari Serroukh pour le graphisme.

Où? Cage d’escalier de De Markten, Rue du vieux marché aux grains 5, 1000 Bruxelles.

Quand? Tous les jours entre 9h00 et 17h00, jusqu’au 17 juin inclus.

Le 23 mai, l’Union des sans-papiers pour la régularisation a entamé une grève de la faim à House of Compassion, à l’ULB et à la VUB. Cette décision a été prise suite à une profonde déception vu le manque d’impact de leurs nombreuses actions entamées jusqu’ici. Dans un communiqué de presse, ils expriment également leur déception en lien à des réactions parfois toxiques auxquelles ils sont parfois confrontés. Ils décrivent cette grève de la faim comme leur dernier acte de résistance. L’action exprime leur désespoir total.

A la House of Compassion nous sommes profondément attristés par la souffrance des activistes et l’impasse politique concernant leur situation. Pendant des grèves de la faim précédentes, la paroisse du Béguinage a souvent été questionnée sur sa position vis-à-vis des grèves de la faim. Elle a toujours indiqué qu’elle n’était pas en faveur d’une grève de la faim comme méthode de pression politique, vu les conséquences que celle-ci peut avoir sur la santé et la vie des activistes. Toutefois, elle a toujours voulu rester solidaire. C’est également la position que House of Compassion défendra aujourd’hui: “Nous ne sommes pas en faveur d’une grève de la faim, mais nous sommes là.” Car derrière chaque décision de procéder à une grève de la faim se cache une souffrance immense. Ces personnes en détresse valent la peine d’être écoutés, comme tout le monde.

Vous pouvez soutenir les personnes sans papiers en signant la lettre ouverte “We are Belgium too.”

Since January, undocumented migrants have been occupying the Béguinage chuch. Mohammed Amine has been living there with his mother. After a couple of weeks, he had the idea to write down the stories of 8 women in the church. Stories that show how undocumented migrants are being treated. Mohammed Amine also made beautiful pictures. Some of his stories and pictures will now be published in De Vijfhoek, the monthly magazine of De Markten, in the May and June edition. But that is not all. Starting from May 7, his work will also be exhibited at the staircase hall of De Markten. The exhibition called “We are here!” is Mohammed Amine’s very first exhibition. Will you go and have a look there, too?

Soon House of Compassion welcomes the exhibition ‘50 Humans‘ by the young photographer Abdulazez Dukhan (22). ’50 Humans’ tells the story of 50 people who were granted asylum in Belgium. The exhibition shows how they each contribute in their own way to our society, even after only a few years in Belgium. To do justice to the portraits, Abdulazez Dukhan will have his photos printed in large format on aluminium. For this purpose, he started a fundraising campaign that has already raised more than 3,000 euros. Support is still possible and all help is more than welcome.

After House of Compassion, the exhibition will also be shown elsewhere in Belgium. Contacts, among others with the renowned Red Starline Museum in Antwerp, are ongoing. We wish Abdulazez every success with the further preparations and look forward to hosting ’50 Humans’ at House of Compassion.

The occupation of the Beguinage Church by undocumented migrants is world news. Radio stations from Germany and the US, for example, made extensive reports about the protest. In a report by The world (US) you can hear activists Mohammed Amine and Nada talking. Nadia and Mohammed speak in the radio broadcast of Deutschlandfunk (Germany). In France, the newspaper Sputnik made a nice report, including an interview with priest Daniel Alliët.

The international interest in the occupation shows how much what is happening in our country is also alive in other countries. Also in the US, France and Germany, thousands of undocumented migrants live in degrading conditions.

A refugee boat with more than 140 migrants washed up on St Peter’s Square in Rome. The boat is an artwork by Timothy Schmalz: Angels Unawares. With his work, the Canadian artist wants to remind people of the message from the Gospel that calls on them to welcome strangers: “Be welcoming to strangers, for among them are angels unawares.”

Timothy Schmalz will exhibit a limited number of copies of the bronze statue group worldwide. We hope that one day the work will also come to Brussels, perhaps on the square in front of the Beguinage Church? Timothy Schmalz has already sent a miniature of the work to House of Compassion. You can admire this miniature at our next exhibition on refugees, 50 humans by Abdulazez Dukhan. 50 humans tells the stories of 50 people who received asylum in Belgium. Each story shows how these people, after only a few years, each in their own way contribute to our society. An exhibition whose message is closely related to the message of the work “Angels Unawares.”

Since March you can follow House of Compassion not only on Facebook, but also on Instagram. You will find there colourful announcements of our events and pictures of our speakers and activities. Although account started only recently, we already have more than 160 followers. Would you help us build our audience on Instagram? Then be sure to hit the ‘follow’ button!

Since recently House of Compassion has its own YouTube channel. Did you miss an event of House of Compassion? Would you like to watch one again? Or do you like to share lectures, music or videos you saw at House of Compassion with friends? You can! Search in YouTube for House of Compassion Brussels and you will get an overview of all our videos. Thanks to Sihame Jebari, student Marketing and Communication support at Odisee Highschool, you will not only find all our online events in the video list, but also shorter fragments. This way, you can also share and watch lectures of speakers separately.

Do not hesitate to follow House of Compassion Brussels on YouTube.

Have fun watching!