In Brussels on Saturday, a demonstration held to protest against the Libyan slave trade ended in the arrest of around 50 youths suspected of looting from stores and attacking police. According to reports, a group broke off from the main protests and donned masks before carrying out the attacks.
Unrest and riot police in action in the lower part of Chaussée d’Ixelles around an hour ago. #bruxelles #brussels pic.twitter.com/aUzXAuDBYP
— Ragnar Weilandt (@RagnarWeilandt) 25 ноября 2017 г.
In recent weeks, the Belgian capital has seen several incidences of violent unrest following events at which young people have congregated. On November 12, more than 12 police officers were injured in riots following Morocco's qualification for the World Cup. On November 15, a rally organized by a young social media star for his fans also erupted into riots.
Fin du match Maroc-CIV émeute à Bruxelles #CIVMAR #Bruxelles #Russia2018 #11novembre pic.twitter.com/2m5x6oX9my
— Akrapoviic3.0💥🚀 (@91_LaDegz) 12 ноября 2017 г.
Political analyst Lode Vanoost, former deputy speaker of the Belgian parliament and Green Party politician told Radio Sputnik that there are several social factors behind the unrest.
Sputnik: Why has there been an increase in riots in Brussels now, who is responsible and what is the course of their uncontrollable behavior?
Lode Vanoost: I have to put things in perspective. There are indeed riots, it's not even a matter of debate that police should react and the culprits should be apprehended. Nobody can condone this kind of destruction of property. But if you really are serious about tackling this issue, we have to look beyond to what causes this and it's very clear that these are very frustrated youngsters who have no real perspective in life, who are totally out of the labor market and as long as you do not accept this social context this is not going to end, it's getting worse and worse.
Apart from these hundreds – who I do not condone – 99% of these youngsters are law-abiding citizens who do not participate in these acts. We have to put this in perspective.
It's a relatively safe city, even with the attacks, even with these riots. The problem at the moment is we have a government that is totally destroying the social welfare state and activities going on to help youngsters. The statistics show that the Belgian labor market is one of the most racist in the whole of the European Union and as long as you don't accept these root causes of this kind of activity, you're not going to solve them.
Sputnik: What Belgian policy issues does this situation reflect, could economic policy, for example, have an impact? Also, why is the local law enforcement allowing this to happen?
Lode Vanoost: That's one of the main problems, which has been going on for years. The Brussels police, which are divided into separate districts, are using racial profiling whenever they approach people on the street. Most of these youngsters, even the ones that do not participate, can testify that they get frisked by the police on a daily basis for the sole reason of how they look.
This is the reality, and this is not new. Of course these youngsters are anti-police. The police in Brussels is not exactly known for its balanced approach to problems.
They are using this situation in a scandalous, openly racist way. Just after these riots, the minister of internal affairs said, "Well you cannot deny that the people who participate in these riots do have a certain outlook, that typifies them as people prone to such kind of action."
I do not condone these actions by a minority at all, and the police should rightfully act upon it, but the blame should be put on the other side as well. The way that the police in Brussels behave toward these youngsters on a daily basis is totally unacceptable.
