Nick Deknudt, lead candidate on the Team Fouad Ahidar+1800 list in Vilvoorde (Flemish Brabant), wants Brussels residents moving to Vilvoorde to be helped in languages other than Dutch when visiting local municipal offices. ‘Staff don't need to know all languages, but speaking four or so world languages would be very interesting. Part of the problem in Vilvoorde lies in the fact that people from Brussels are poorly informed. We are specifically targeting this group of new Vilvoorde residents in the elections.’
Elections 24: Team Fouad Ahidar+1800 wants a multilingual welcome for newcomers in Vilvoorde!
Colin Clapson
Published:
Vilvoorde is one of four cities in Flanders where Team Fouad Ahidar+1800 is fielding candidates in the municipal elections on 13 October. ‘The request arrived very last minute from Brussels,’ says Nick Deknudt. He worked with Fouad Ahidar in Brussels for many years. ‘We just managed to find 12 more people.’
Team Fouad Ahidar+1800 is sometimes called a Muslim party. List leader Deknudt says that is not the case. ‘It is true that we focus on newcomers from Brussels. But they are a very diverse group, certainly a lot of Muslims, Moroccans, Turks, Africans and Albanians, but also Flemish people like me.’
Exodus from Brussels
‘I too moved to Vilvoorde from Brussels. There is a real urban exodus to Flanders and certainly to Vilvoorde. The houses are in better condition and are cheaper than in Brussels. The quality of life is higher and there is a lot of public transport with good connections.’
Deknudt notes that because of the many newcomers, the problems people moved out of Brussels for are now cropping up in Vilvoorde. ‘There are the loitering youths, litter and problems with spending power,’ he says. But that is not due to the newcomers themselves, the politician thinks.
Dutch only is not good enough!
‘These many newcomers need better reception in Vilvoorde. At city offices they can only use Dutch. They get a welcome pack with all the information, but only in Dutch. It would be better in four or so world languages.’
Team Fouad Ahidar+1800 has great ambitions in Vilvoorde. ‘We are counting on 3,000 votes, which could give us 5 seats on the Vilvoorde municipal council,’ Deknudt calculates.