BRUSSELS – More than half of the women who have sought refuge in shelters in Flanders are of ethnic origin. On average, 53 percent of women in shelters are of immigrant descent.

This has emerged from the most recent figures from the centre for general welfare work.

The high number of immigrants in the shelters has much to do with the rising number of homeless immigrant women. One in five homeless people is of ethnic descent.

The reasons behind these worrying developments are violence and serious conflicts within the family, as well as exclusion from the labour market and housing.

“We never refuse anyone on the basis of where they come from,” says Kris De Groof of the centre for general welfare work. “But if a shelter is full, we have to refer people on to somewhere else.”

[Copyright Expatica News 2007]

Subject: Belgian news