Volunteers withdraw from Park Max refugee camp

The unofficial refugee camp in Brussels' Park Maximiliaan is set to close this week after the main volunteer group involved announced its withdrawal yesterday. The Civic Platform for Supporting Refugees says it will now concentrate on finding homes willing to take in refugees while they wait to claim asylum in Belgium.

It also intends to find a more appropriate place in which refugees and citizens of Brussels can meet and exchange views. This site will also provide support services such as education, counselling and the distribution of clothes.

"It is increasingly clear to us that, if we stay in the park, the federal government will not assume its responsibilities," said Elodie Francart, a spokesperson for the Platform, in Le Soir. "We refuse to serve as an alibi for the government: a camp will never be an acceptable solution."

Federal immigration minister Theo Francken welcomed the move but brushed off criticism that the government was not doing enough for the refugees. Currently on a diplomatic mission in North Africa, he told journalists that all asylum applications were being processed. He suspected that many of those remaining in the park had not lodged applications and probably had no right to remain.

"It's not clear where these people will go, but we're not suddenly going to give everybody papers," he said. "There will be no collective regularization."

Photo: Sally Tipper