13 May 2004
BRUSSELS – Belgium’s far-right Flemish party, the Vlaams Blok, has launched a new telephone service that allows people to denounce anonymously suspected illegal immigrants living in Belgium, it was reported on Thursday.
The new hotline, which will initially operate in Antwerp, has already been branded as a ‘Nazi’ initiative by some of the anti-foreigner Blok’s opponents.
“The Blok has shown its real face: they are Nazis,” said Belgian senator Isabelle Durant, a member of the pro-environment Ecolo part when she heard about the Vlaams Blok’s latest initiative.
“It’s almost like Flanders in 1933, when informers denounced people,” she added.
Durant argued that the telephone service would do little to deal with the issue of people living illegally in Belgium.
“This has nothing to do with helping people in danger and everything to do with denunciations based on suspicion,” she said.
But the Blok insists its new hotline will help tackle what it believes is a real problem.
“We are not trying to do the police’s job or to encourage denunciations,” said a spokesperson for the far-right party.
“There are many other telephone services like this that people can call when they have problems,” he added.
A Gent court ruled recently that the Vlaams Blok regularly breaks Belgium’s anti-racism laws.
[Copyright Expatica 2004]
Subject: Belgian news