Prison officers at jails in the Brussels-Capital Region began a two-day strike at 10pm on Tuesday. Previously prison officers at prisons in East Flanders, Flemish Brabant, Limburg and West Flanders also took strike action. From this evening staff at prisons in Antwerp Province will also walk out for 48 hours.
Alain Blancke of the Christian trade union ACV told journalists that "In the first instance there was funding to keep Sint-Gillis Prison open until the end of 2024. But there is now a lack of clarity with regard to the prison’s closure. The situation is precarious. There are 500 people at Sint-Gillis and with the overcrowding elsewhere they can’t just be transferred willy-nilly”.
The planned detention centres at Vilvoorde (Flemish Brabant) and Olen (Antwerp Province) won’t be available until autumn 2025.
Meanwhile, the Prisons’ Authority recognises that there is still no sign of an agreement to resolve the dispute. “But we are trying to accelerate recruitment to address staff shortage issues”.
Sleeping on the floor
The issue of prisoners having to sleep on the floor is also being addressed. The number of inmates sleeping on the floor of their cell due to a shortage of beds has fallen from more than 200 inmates to around 50.
In the short term, prison officers are calling for the early release of prisoners at the end of their sentence and for those that have been given short custodial sentence not to be sent to prison. However, the Justice Minister insists that those given short custodial sentences should service their time.
Belgium’s prisons have capacity for 10,000 prisoners. However, there are currently 12,000 prisoners serving sentences there. This is a cause for concern for unions that represent the country’s prison officers. Especially with summer and warm temperatures.