Videos:
Demonstration at Brussels Airport
Blockade of the entrance to the closed detention centre
Demonstration at Brussels Airport and at the entrance of the closed detention centre against collective expulsion by the EU agency Frontex: At Brussels Airport 60 people protested against the collective expulsion of 61 Nigerians and Congolese by Frontex, the European Agency for management of the external borders. The deportees are 9 Nigerians and 3 Congolese who are in detention centers in Belgium and 49 from Great Britain, Germany, France, Switserland, Poland, Sweden and Norway.
The demonstrators are protesting against what they called a “flight of shame”: “Belgium hires for this collective expulsion a full Airbus plane, which will depart from the military airport of Melsbroek. It was seven years ago that Belgium rented such a big plane to send asylum seekers collectively back to their country. This way Belgium cooperates with the European anti-immigration politics. We must protest against this in every possible way.”
The protesters are demanding a radically different European migration policy and the closure of all detention centers for refugees. According to them, people there are illegally detained without any legal assistance, while they often have committed no crime at all. The demonstrators took their protest message first in the departure lounge and then into the airport arrival hall. That went on a noisy but orderly manner so that no incidents occurred.
Furthermore, there were again protests at Warsaw, where the Frontex headquarter is located.
