This is my last blog post. I wish I could write that the situation has finally improved and that we are finally back to normal but this would be a far cry from reality. The situation is the same as when I arrived – in a crisis! Nonetheless, I have come to accept that this will always be the case which is why it is so important to have people like the amazing team at Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen, who work tirelessly to overcome every obstacle that is thrown in the direction of applicants for international protection.

Working with the Startpunt team has been a very interesting journey for me and it has really opened my eyes to some of the worst aspects of European society. Before coming here, I could have sworn that the Belgium asylum procedure was one of the best examples of how the Common European Asylum System could succeed. But theory and reality could not have been further apart. I still believe that there are lessons to be learned from Belgium’s approach but these lessons should be based on the work of civil society and non-governmental actors and not government policy. In particular, I was impressed by how quickly different organisations decided to bring legal action against Fedasil. I was also impressed by the speed at which different NGO’s came together, in December, to organise humanitarian aid for all those left sleeping outside Klein Kasteeltje.

At the same time there are so many other shocking stories that will stick with me throughout my career. I am still frustrated, perhaps even disappointed, every time I see children sleeping on the streets or inside metro stations in a city. This should not happen in a wealthy city, particularly not in one which is supposed to be the epicentre of European values. I do not think that many of these children are seeking international protection but I imagine that many of them slip through the cracks solely because they are not registered as Belgian nationals.

I accept that that no system is perfect but this seems like an incredible flaw. It amazes me that in such a modern city, there are children coming up to me and begging for money – or worse asking me to give them food. I would like to think that the State is doing something to combat this but the fact that I have seen the same families living on the same street corners and begging outside the same shops since November makes me think that everybody is simply turning a blind eye to the situation. Do the police officers and officials who walk by these families not have some sort of obligation to protect children and provide a better alternative for their families, at least until their children turn 18?

"It amazes me that in such a modern city, there are children coming up to me and begging for money – or worse asking me to give them food"

When I meet families at Klein Kasteeltje who are applying for international protection for the third or fourth time, a small part of me is always fearful that they will end up in this situation. I hope that they will not, but, I often wonder if there is a connection. It is the same when I meet children at the Red Cross Centre. There is one family in particular that have been at PSA every week since I arrived that also catch my attention. They have an amazing little girl who is always trying to help staff by giving out tea and coffee. She looks to be around five or six years old but she has already learned how to speak three languages despite not going to school. This girl has so much potential, she is energetic but I worry that she many never get the opportunities she deserves because she has spent so many of her formative years on the move trying to reach a safe country where her family can put down roots. I’ve heard that her family are trying to put down roots in Belgium but it is clearly not easy for them.

Children are not the only vulnerable group. On Sunday, I left North station around 7.30pm and I was ashamed to acknowledge that I recognised quite a lot of faces walking towards the station. It seemed very surreal to me as I noticed people from both the Red Cross Centre and Klein Kasteeltje wandering around the area. For those from Klein Kasteeltje, I have hope that they might get a shelter soon from the lawyer referral system. However, seeing the two groups going to the same place, really brought home the reality of the situation to me and made me realise that many of those who get a centre through the lawyer referral system may have a long journey ahead of them. Many have already been denied asylum elsewhere, meaning their chance of getting a negative is high. If this is the case, they could easily get trapped in a precarious situation in Belgium.

The men I saw on Sunday all looked relatively strong and able-bodied but over the last few months we have also seen very sick men being denied accommodation. I will never forget the partly paralysed man who had to lift up his right hand using his left to thank us for trying to help him, before walking away from Klein Kasteeltje with nowhere to spend the night. I will also not forget the countless times, somebody handed me medical notes saying they had suffered trauma and needed psychological assistance only to hear me say that I was sorry. Defining vulnerability is incredibly difficult but it is even harder to tell somebody that you know is vulnerable that they do not meet the threshold established by somebody else.

"I hope that you continue to do amazing work and insight change over the next few months!"

In recent weeks, we have also had some new challenges. While it was interesting to see how quickly EU member States reacted to the influx of Ukrainian refugees, it was also heart-breaking to see the differential treatment between different groups fleeing conflict zones.  For me this was particularly the case when it came to telling long term Ukrainian reside challenge is telling long term Ukrainian residents that they cannot get temporary protection.

This week I met several couples who were told to apply separately at different locations because one was Ukrainian and the other was only a resident. In particular, there was one couple who I met who were pregnant. The girl was very afraid that her partner, who she had married in a traditional ceremony, would be deported to Nigeria. She was worried that her family would be split up and that there would be nobody to provide for her child. I wish I could have told her that the Belgian state would definitely respect her right to family life because it is a right enshrined in law, but I could not say this. I could not say it, because I knew there was still a chance that this family managed to flee a warzone together only to be separated by Belgian immigration authorities.

While all of these situations and many more were difficult, I know that the situation in the EU will only get worse over the next few years as more people are forced to flee their country or origin. In the future, I believe that many will flee not only because of persecution but for other reasons not specified in the Geneva Convention such as floods and famine caused by climate change. This will create many more challenges and many people will be left without papers, if states do not start to change their practices.

I hope that the great work that organisations such as Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen are doing will help ensure that there are better structures in place to protect more people in the future and avoid at least some of the difficult situations that I have seen people suffer through over the last few months.

For this and for so many other reasons as well, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody at Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen especially the workers and volunteers of the Startpunt team for such an insightful experience. I hope that you continue to do amazing work and insight change over the next few months!