Roma camp cleared under Brussels ring in Anderlecht

The mayor of Anderlecht said he was forced to evacuate a Roma camp under the ring road, citing complaints of a "shanty town" by local residents.

Around 40 Roma people from Romania have been living for several months in extremely precarious conditions under the bridge of the Anderlecht ring road in Brussels, RTBF reports.

The makeshift camp, consisting of about 20 shelters cobbled together from recycled materials, was evacuated earlier this week.

“The sanitary conditions were no longer tolerable,” mayor Fabrice Cumps (PS) said, adding that while the mayoral order was for an eviction, attempts for dialogue around rehousing the camp’s residents would be made.

“It's a difficult decision because it's about people. These people are, above all, victims - victims of an extremely precarious life. It's really because their living conditions are untenable in terms of cleanliness and hygiene that we are asking them to leave this site.”

Housing the people will be a challenge, as Brussels accommodation centres are already full due to the ongoing migration crisis and solutions offered do not always meet the needs of families.

“If we have a couple who don't want to be separated, for example, and we can find a place for the woman in one centre and a place for the man in another centre, there is a good chance that the people will refuse the accommodation so as not to be separated,” said Vital Marage, head of the “Cellule vie précaire” (precarious living unit) at the municipality of Anderlecht.

The municipality itself is struggling, with Marage having lost half the team due to the absence of a regional government in Brussels.

“The unprecedented political crisis in the Brussels region and the absence of a government since the June 2024 elections further complicates the management of this crisis, because no government also means no budget and therefore drastic cuts in social funding,” Marage said.

“We are losing three of our six workers. Now that there is no longer a government, some funding is no longer guaranteed. We’ve lost our social nurse, our street psychologist and our social worker who was specifically involved in housing issues.”

Remaining workers warn that the Roma camp is only one part of a much deeper housing crisis in Anderlecht, pointing out that many of the camp’s residents are fully employed but still cannot afford legal housing.