'rather shocking that she would rather forgo the protection and support of her own family (having a hard time covering tuition fees)...how can you really take care of others when you really are unable to help your own? This is a misdirected vanity / virtue project....
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My family ia Dutch and Belgian. My Dutch relatives were constantly picked up by the Gestapo, but helped to hide/smuggle Jews off the continent. My Belgian relatives did the same, and also felt the shame of the history of Leopold's Congo. They paid a price in the 60's for their crimes.
I think this is a small price to pay for those days. It is the very least we can do for our African brothers and sisters, who suffer to this day. I am pleased that there is such and effort being made to offer hospitality, shelter and security to these people. Bravo!
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When the warm and fuzzy feeling wears off then the reality really sets in. These migrants are going to be in need of much more than one self virtue signalling meal.
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Welcoming is exactly the wrong approach here. That is, by definition, what brings more and more of them and encourages others to migrate. Do we really want to encourage more migration of this kind? On a personal level, such feelings and actions are understandable and very noble. But a solution to a very serious problem, it is completely naive and counterproductive. The illegal migration must be stopped. Help needs to be delivered towards those who need it in their own countries. That would be far more efficient and humane in the long run.
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@David
Do you realize that many western industrialized nations caused the problems in the countries these refugees are fleeing from? Industrialized nations interfered for access to the resources and destabilized nationalistic governments to put those in power who would deal with them. These were often self serving dictators brutal to the native populations. It would be awesome for the refugees if we could fix many of the issues we created. No one wants to leave their home. However industrialized nations still want those resources.
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@David, I'm one of the person who give them shelter; it's very simple, they are freezing outside at night, scared, they have been through tremendous hardship, we give them a bed for the night, make them feel safe for a few hours, they try to connect with their families to tell them they are safe, we talk to them about applying for asylum. They are humans, we are all brothers and sisters, and that may seem like a Kumbalaya song, but this is real and I can't ignore this since the government is not doing much about it. It's called solidarity.
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@David Hello David, If you look at the numbers since The Plateform exists in Brussels it didn't bring more people to come. On the other end, do you really think that when you leave your country, your family to face the ocean, the threat of being robbed, raped, tortured or put into slavery, who would stop by not having a family hosting you for the night? Please. Those people faced so much worse than just a few nights without food or warm beds.
If this citizen solidarity didn't exist, there would still be migrants to Brussels (or any other cities). It's just the reaction that's changing. Solidarity or none.
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I liked this article. It really showed me the care belgiums have to others.
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"Welcome the stranger," is what Christ preached.
I don't go to church, i am not sure He was the Son of God who died on a cross and later came back to life, but i sure as heck believe in His teachings.
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Such altruism is admirable but in the end unsustainable. War refugees segue into economic refugees and, eventually a mass migration of ecological refugees as we continue to alter the great winds, rains and temperatures of the planet.
Europe will not be the only continent to experience such mass migration. To believe otherwise is naive.
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First it was just supposed to be Syrian war refugees, but now the EU seems content on resettling economic migrants into its member countries. And people wonder why right wing populism is growing across Europe.
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For those of you who so admire this couple for their altruistic ideals would you, with several young children, stop and pick up a hitchhiker? Not likely, in this day and age. The African migrants have manipulated the system to enter Europe and are quite fussy over their choice of destination. None would qualify for legal entry if they applied for a visa.
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@S Sm Right on. You request asylum in the first country. If you can afford to shop around, you're not in danger.
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@S Sm in europe many people with children in the car pick up hitchhikers, we love hitchhiking from country to country thanks to our open boarders
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@Mortarman Come on Mortarman. Wouldn't you try to find the best place to stop?? Did you really try to put yourself in their position? After months of deadly travel, what means to you a few more months to find a country where you think that you have to more chances to stay? They know how bad the situation in Italy is why would they try to stay there? Would you?!
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Approximately 3 billion people want to come to Europe and overburden the welfare state.
Sure, it's pleasant to get know know and help a few dozen people, but governments need to serve their own citizens first. Open arms will lead to a meltdown of society and will collapse social services for everyone, including those who have paid taxes their entire lives.
Ms. de Neve it naive at best. And quite foolish.
This open boarders attitude will bring fascist populism in reaction. We see that to be true across Europe and even in the United States where migration is a much smaller challenge comparatively.
These are largely economic migrants from contries that refuse to develop responsibly and seem to have no concept of population control. Europe will destroy itself trying the bail those folks out of their problems. The flow simply will not end.
Enough.
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@Will.
Fear, misinformation, and racism bring fascist populism. Solidarity is not the cause of fascism.
About the so-called "economic migrants": the real economic migrants are well-off European expatriates for whom borders are only formalities. People who want to apply for asylum in Europe aren't "economic migrants": the causes of their travels are multiple and entangled.
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@will. The fact that Ms. de Neve takes in migrants is a reaction to the fascist populism of the government, not the other way round. He in charge of migration in Belgian government is the most popular politician in Belgium and is truly a populist borderline fascist, so there you go, open border attitude as you call it is simply not the attitude of the majority so what's a reaction to what now? Also, "no notion of population control"? Does the USA "control" its population. Anywhere else except for some years in Communist China (where now there is a lack of women as a result of it)? May I also point out to you the néfaste influence of mostly American extremist evangelicals who plague Africa spreading the message that condoms are forbidden by God. May I also ask, concerning your US, how for God's sake it is possible for a rapist to become one of the country's highest judges, who, not a small note in my book, now holds power to decide the faith of women, by altering abortion rights for example. How can that be? It is baffling, truly it astounds me.
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@will. The fact that Ms. de Neve takes in migrants is a reaction to the fascist populism of the government, not the other way round. He in charge of migration in Belgian government is the most popular politician in Belgium and is truly a populist borderline fascist, so there you go, open border attitude as you call it is simply not the attitude of the majority so what's a reaction to what now?
It is important to remember that those migrants hoping to enter England will do so illegally probably by hopping undetected onto the back of a truck for a ferry crossing. If they truly wanted asylum they would be grateful for Belgium's offer of safety. Yet those who refuse that generosity waste their days playing soccer and waiting fruitlessly. If there are a " few hundred" roaming Maximilian Square then these able bodied young men are also denying the use of that park to others and might indeed appear to be be a threat. And imagine being happy that the migrants that you have hosted "only" stole 20 Euros.
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My time living in Belgium briefly a good many years ago taught me that Belgians are often surprising, especially when they seem to take pride in defying stereotypes. They also seem to find a way to coexist without sentimentality. We Americans could learn a lot from them and not only in the way to play outstanding soccer.
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@arp Belgium is also SO friendly - its neighborhoods are where some of the worst Islamic terrorists have resided..ask the British & French who have suffered terribly for this harboring of criminals.
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These are the real saints among us. I am in awe of their magnificent, loving hearts and I thank The Times for reminding me such lights still shine.
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We do not have to be alienated. Opening one's door has become here an act of deep philosophical and political resistance. It shows that another world is possible. It shows that one does not need to be afraid. It shows that there can be enough for everyone to live decently. The police can break into our houses, but it will have a much harder time breaking into our souls. You do not have to host migrants, but you can invent your own form of resistance against the soulless world we live in.
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@Yves Well said!
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I went to a Belgium Medical School. I found the people to be both generous and interesting. I was recently in Belgium, the character of the country has been changed by all the migrants. I sincerely commend those that are both generous with their time and homes. But all is not as rosy, as this article claims. There are many Belgium people, who are far from satisfied with the changes.
During the same trip in April 2018, I parked a rental car near my hotel in the Gare de Nord area, and it was broken into. I lost a great deal of valuables. The police were well aware that there is all manner of increased petty crimes. Even petty crimes can be expensive!!!
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@Dr.Abe Why do you immediately associate migrants with crime? And by the way, criminality has reached a new low in Brussels this year...
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This is simply incredible.
-“We’ve lost maybe 20 euros and some headphones,” “They are very good people.” - Speak about biting the hand that feeds you! No, the people who stole your property were not good people.
-'Charity has, however, created a financial strain. It has been hard for the couple to pay school fees for their own children.'- It is nice to help people but at the expense of your own children? The parents should feel that their first obligation is to their children, not foreign nationals.
North Sudan is not at war by the way, these are economic migrants, and this family is being used. I feel for their children who are sacrificing the most, because the parents think that it is their obligation to take care of adults who should be able to take care of themselves, back in their home countries.
This is not like bringing in a pet in need of a home but rather real adult people that these parents are treating as helpless children. These migrants are in Belgium illegally, and most do not qualify for asylum. Those that might qualify are also breaking the rules by not registering in the first safe haven country. The Belgian government has not granted them asylum but these parents think that they know better than the Belgian government on this matter?
This is naivete run amuck.
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@Philly I think the point of the 20 euros and headphones anecdote is that, of the dozens and dozens of migrants they have served, at most one or two has taken from them (and only small things).
Perhaps they also feel that it is more important for their children to live, firsthand, the message of compassion and human rights they preach than to never know financial hardship.
I don't know what you mean in suggesting that "economic migrants" are not in real need, as if unemployment, starvation, violence (of a non-political kind), etc. are not legitimate reasons to seek a better life elsewhere.
These people are not naive, they are living their principles.
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@Philly If people decide to do this, it is their own choice. Not everyone has to be bitter, frustrated and angry, some people like to give and share. On the sacrifices: In Belgium schooling is practically for free, so yes they might be tight in budget but their kids will not be deprived of decent schooling. And they will get humanity lessons in return. So chapeau for the courageous and generous people, who indeed know better than the current Belgian government and do not treat migrants as if they are not human.
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@Philly Granted, migrants are a serious problem for which there is not yet a good solution, but treating them with kindness and charity is not naive. Gaining trust and respect, even in small increments like this, makes it easier to eventually find a mutually satisfactory and peaceful solution. The main result of treating desperate migrants like enemies is to make them desperate enemies.
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Wow. Just wow. Inspiring and humbling.
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Thank you for sharing the story of these beautiful people.
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