Social and Legal Challenges of Growing Muslim Population in Brussels

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1 Social and Legal Challenges of Growing Muslim Population in Brussels Summary Nicole Grmelová The growing population of Muslims in Brussels raises a number of social and legal issues including the scarcity of pre-school and school facilities, the creation of no-go areas, the rising number of Belgian Jihadi fighters leaving for Syria and coming back to Belgium, posing an elevated security threat. The aim of this paper is to examine the reaction of the original non-muslim population in Brussels with respect to the new demographic structure in the Belgian capital which serves at the same time as the headquarters of major EU institutions. Key words Brussels, Muslims, no-go areas, demographic structure, social challenges, legal challenges 1 Origins of the Muslim population in Belgium The Muslim population started arriving at Belgium in late 1950s during the period of an economic boom, especially from Morocco and Turkey. The first generation economic migrants from these countries was engaged particularly in the construction business, building e.g. the Brussels underground (Dassetto, 2011). Once the employment contracts of the first generation immigrants expired they decided to reunite their families in Belgium rather that to go back to their countries of origin. Combined with a high birth rate in Muslim communities in Brussels, the proportion of Muslim population in Brussels has been rising starting from the 1950s onwards. Mohammed has been the most common name of newborn boys in Brussels starting from the 1980s (Belgian Statistical Office, 2015). Berber is the second most spoken language in Brussels after French in a city which is formally bi-lingual, French and Dutch, however, only a small proportion of Brussels population (some 10 %) speaks Dutch (van Istendael, 2008). Recently, media have reported that a total of 62 % of the Brussels population is either non-belgium (high number of foreign employees and EU officials) or descending from originally non-belgium parents (Flanders News, 2015b). Belgian laws grant nationality to those born on the Belgium territory if at least one of their parents had 243

2 Economic, Social and Legal Problems of Demographic Development a five year residence within the Belgian territory (Code de la Nationalité belge), hence the second and third generation of Muslim immigrants are Belgian nationals, often keeping a double nationality together with the Moroccan or the Turkish one. 1.2 Growing Political Engagement of the Muslim Population in Brussels Brussels is the capital of Belgium, however, it is also the capital of Flanders (van Instendael, 2008) and the capital of the French speaking community. From an administrative point of view, Brussels is a region split into a number of districts called communes. There are a total of 19 communes (which include in alphabetical order Anderlecht, Auderghem, Berchem-Saint-Agathe, Bruxelles-Ville, Etterbeek, Evere, Forest, Ganshoren, Ixelles, Jette, Koekelberg, Molenbeek, Saint-Gilles, Saint-Josse, Schaerbeek, Uccle, Watermael-Boitsfort, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, and Woluwe-Saint-Pierre). The highest proportion of Muslim population lives in Saint-Josse, Molenbeek and Anderlecht (Kern, 2013). Hence, also their political representation in these communes is more prominent than elsewhere. For instance, the controversial federal deputy and the mayor of Saint-Josse, Emir Kir, is of Turkish descent. Muslim politicians are often engaged at higher levels than those of district and regional politics. Generally, they represent left wing parties, such as the socialists and the greens, since these parties are likely to maintain generous social benefits, thus securing their ever growing number of votes in Muslim communities. Whereas most Muslims of Moroccan and Turkish origin are conservative Sunnites (Dassetto, 2011), there is a small proportion of more radical Shiites who have established a political party called Islam. This activist political party operates legally and has already invited the Belgian king to adopt Islam as the prevalent religion being practiced in this country ( So far, the Belgian king has not converted to Islam nor has he provided a formal reply to this invitation. Representatives of the Islam political party have posted a radically sounding video on youtube.com in which they announce that they wish to introduce the Muslim Sharia law in Brussels once the Muslim population in the capital city has reached more than 50 %. Also, the video says that non-muslims will not be killed, but they will be free to leave the city if they do not wish to convert to Islam (RTBF, 2012). Such political manifests obviously raise a number of security issues for the original non- -Muslim population of Brussels, which increasingly tends to leave the city. Opinion polls show that 55 % of Brussels population feels very insecure due to the presence of radical Muslims, whereas further 19 % of the population of the capital city feels rather insecure (La Libre, 2013). 244

3 However, there are a number of other related reasons for the emigration of the original Brussels population outside the Belgian capital and/or outside Belgium altogether. 2 Fewer non-muslim inhabitants in Brussels Middle class inhabitants of Brussels have discovered that there are insufficient pre- -school facilities and quality schools for their children in Brussels. When trying to place a child into a state pre-school facility, preference is given to the recipients of social benefits and low income groups. Those receiving a salary are obliged to pay 5% of their income as tuition for state pre-school facilities. However, since the number of places in state pre-school facilities is limited, there is no room for middle class and upper class children in state pre-schools. Private pre-schools, usually established as Catholic ones, cost around one thousand euros per month per child. This is a fee which can easily be afforded by highly qualified foreign employees and EU officials (Georgakakis, 2013). Nevertheless, a middle class family having two small children would have to reserve two thousand euros of their monthly budget for private pre-schools only. Given the average monthly net income of two thousand euros, these fees are not viable for the middle class, which prefers to leave Brussels to other regions of Belgium where there is room for children in state pre-school facilities. Data released by the Brussels Institute of Statistics and Analysis show that over the past ten years more than ten thousand middle class families left Brussels to settle in Flanders or Wallonia (La Libre, 2014). The missing presence of middle class families in Brussels having children in the age structure of the Belgian capital is apparent. The old age pensioners who have spent all their lives in Brussels still wish to stay there until the end of their days, however, their children and grandchildren increasingly decide to leave Brussels. The lack of quality pre-school and school facilities is not the only reason for the middle class to emigrate from Brussels. Another reason is the growing feeling of insecurity, since Brussels has a rather high crime rate and the police does not dare to enter in many no-go areas since it fears its own life. Recently, the Brussels police have started cooperating with the Moroccan police. Moroccan police officers were hired to train Brussels policeman how to deal with crime in areas having a large proportion of Muslim population. Also, a number of Brussels policemen were deployed to Morocco for training (Flanders News, 2015a). If this cooperation between the Brussels and Moroccan police sources encourages the Brussels policemen to 245

4 Economic, Social and Legal Problems of Demographic Development enter no go areas to prevent and investigate crime, the enforcement of law in the capital of Belgium may improve and so can the feeling of security. 2.1 Long Term High Unemployment Rate The long term average unemployment rate in Brussels is about twenty per cent ( which is rather high for a capital city. There are many highly qualified foreign experts working in Brussels, whereas the offer of low-skilled professions is more limited in the capital of Belgium. Often, the qualification rate of job seekers does not match that of the labor market. Also, linguistic requirements are very high as employers are likely to seek French and Dutch bilingual employees. Combined with the religious discrimination by employers, it is more difficult for those of Muslim descent to find employment in Brussels. This is particularly the case because Muslim employees are known to leave their workplace for prayers several times a day and they are unable to assist at many business lunches and other events during the Ramadan which makes them less compatible with the requirements of a highly competitive and demanding Western labor culture. Many inhabitants of Brussels of Turkish origin prefer to set up their own little shops and be self-employed. Whereas their dropout rate from school is higher than that of Muslims of Moroccan origin, their engagement in economic activity is higher. On the contrary, Belgians of Moroccan descent in Brussels have a lower dropout rate from schools, but find it increasingly difficult to get employed at positions matching their higher educational levels (Gsir, 2015), which contributes to more frustration on the labor market. 2.2 Perfect Separation? Even tough, there are many mixed marriages between Muslims and non-muslims in Brussels, the feeling of separation (and failed integration) is prevalent. High income groups send their children to private pre-school and school facilities, which families of Muslim descent cannot afford. Muslims and non-muslims live in different parts of the city and attend different schools (Shore, 2012). The original non- -Muslim Brussels population has mostly left Brussels either renting or selling their apartments and houses to high income foreign experts and EU officials. With each subsequent EU enlargement the prices of housing in safe areas of Brussels have gone up. In no go areas the Brussels authorities are planning to build more social housing since the current quantity of housing facilities is clearly insufficient in the long run. 246

5 3 Conclusion The inadequate pre-school and school policy pursued by the Brussels authorities is the main reason for non-muslim middle class of Brussels to leave the capital of Belgium. This is coupled with a rising feeling of insecurity and a low rate of law enforcement, in particular when it comes to the investigation and punishment of violent crimes. The recently introduced training of Brussels police officers by their Moroccan counterparts, however, may encourage the policemen serving in the capital of Belgium to enter into no go areas to prevent and investigate crime to a much higher degree than has been the case in the past. Yet, even though this may be a step in the right direction, it is unlikely to bring the emigrated middle class back to Brussels as, obviously, more such constructive steps will be needed. Literature [1] Belgian Statistical Office, Prénoms des nouveau-nés [online] Available at: [2] DASSETTO, F., L Iris et le Croissant.Bruxelles et l Islam au défi de la coinclusion. Louvain: Presses universitaires de Louvain. ISBN [3] FLANDERS NEWS, 2015a. Antwerp and Brussels to employ Moroccan police officers. [online]. Release date October 5 [cit. Nov ]. Available at: [4] FLANDERS NEWS, 2015b. Brussels: 62% of foreign extraction. [online]. Release date October 31 [cit. Nov ]. Available at cm/vrtnieuws.english/news/ [5] GEORGAKAKIS, D., ROWELL, J., The Field of Eurocracy: Mapping the EU Actors and Professionals. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN [6] GSIR, S.; MANDIN, J., MESCOLI, E., Corridor report on Belgium: the case of Moroccan and Turkish immigrants. Series/Report no.: Migration Policy Centre; INTERACT Research Report. ISBN [7] ISTENDAEL, G.van, Lelabyrinthe belge. Bordeaux: Le Castor Astral. ISBN [8] KERN, S., Confronting Sharia Law in Belgium. [online] New York: Gatestone Institute. [cit. Nov ]. Available at: 247

6 Economic, Social and Legal Problems of Demographic Development [9] LA LIBRE, L intégration? Un échec pensent les Belges. [online]. Release date June 3 [cit. Nov ]. Available at: actu/belgique/l-integration-un-echec-pensent-les-belges-51b8fd65e4b0de6db9cab0e5 [10] LA LIBRE, [online]. Release date April 30 [cit. 6-Nov- 2015]. Available at: pourquoi-nous-quittons-bruxelles-5360f36d35707e5aa80bc1ad [11] RTBF (Radio Télévision Belge Francophonne), Belgique: après l invasion musulmane voici la Charia. [online]. Release date October 29 [cit. Nov ]. Available at: [12] SHORE, C., Building Europe: The Cultural Politics of European Integration. London: Routledge. ISBN JUDr. Nicole Grmelová, Ph.D. University of Economics, Prague Faculty of International Relations Department of Business and EU Laws Nám. W. Churchilla Praha 3 grmelova@vse.cz 248

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