The bedbug infestation at the secure asylum facility at Steenokkerzeel in Flemish Brabant has not yet been brought under control. On Friday we reported that staff at the centre had gone out on strike after bedbugs were found in the centre’s staff room. Now residents at the centre are refusing to go inside the facility that is known as 127 bis.
Residents of secure asylum centre now also refusing to go inside the centre due to bedbug infestation
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They have been refusing to go indoors since Sunday morning and spent Sunday night outside. The Mayor of Steenokkerzeel Kurt Ryon (Local list – Flemish nationalist) told VRT News that "It was suggested to them that they sleep in other rooms in other wings but they refused. The asylum seekers want the bedbug infestation to be tackled properly before they will go back inside the centre”.
Staff at the centre have been on strike since Friday after bedbugs were discovered in the staff room. "The staff are sick and tired of it because apparently the issues with bedbugs have been going on for several months now”, Mr Ryon told VRT News.
Specialised firm
Both staff and residents are demanding a long-term solution. Mayor Ryon added that “Negotiations are on-going between the centre’s management on the one hand and staff and residents on the other. I think that the Asylum and Migration Service should bring in a specialised firm to exterminate the bugs”.
"They would be able to tackle the issue properly and seriously get to grips with the bedbugs. I think that the building needs to be completely disinfected. They need to look in every nook and cranny, like behind the skirting boards and between the beds, in short everywhere”.