Belgian government vows to tackle drug consumption and insecurity at Brussels main train station скачать в хорошем качестве

Belgian government vows to tackle drug consumption and insecurity at Brussels main train station

(7 Sep 2023) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Brussels - 07 September 2023 1. Wide of Brussels Midi train station 2. Various of entrance 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Luckas Vander Taelen, former politician and Brussels pundit: "This is really an attraction pool for everybody who has problems in Brussels, like homeless people, like migrants, but also with drugs. There is a lot of traffic in Brussels, drug traffic in Brussels here with crack (cocaine), which is a very cheap drug that a lot of poor people wants to use." 4. Wide of train station bus stop 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Luckas Vander Taelen, former politician and Brussels pundit: "Nobody has done anything for years. So this problem gets always, always worse. And that's what happens today that everybody seems concerned. But I wonder what is going to change here." 6. Mid of police van parked in front of station entrance 7. Wide of Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo at news conference 8. SOUNDBITE (Dutch) Alexander De Croo, Belgium Prime Minister: "The challenge is one of security that we owe to everyone passing through Brussels. It is about the liveable conditions in the neighborhood, and of course, it is about the image of Brussels and the image of our nation." 9. Wide of train station underground entrance 10. Woman talking to man lying on the ground 11. Ariane Dierickx, Director of L'Ilot, aid group for homeless people, talking 12. SOUNDBITE (French) Ariane Dierickx, Director of L'Ilot, aid group for homeless people: "For quite some time now, we've been denouncing what we see as more of a hunt for the poor than a real desire to solve the problem and help people. We've seen this in concrete terms, with police raids and operations that have received a bit of media coverage, where the aim was clearly to clear the premises of people who were causing a disturbance. We know very well that this doesn't solve the problem. It only shifts the problem from one neighborhood to another. And above all, it means we're not tackling the real causes of the problem. It's not security, and more security that's going to solve the problems." 13. Close of Dierickx's hands 14. SOUNDBITE (French) Ariane Dierickx, Director of L'Ilot, aid group for homeless people: “It was shocking to see all these people that have been rejected by society being picked up by police vans while they are no criminals, they are just people with needs. It shows how inadequate the response is in face of this kind of problem.” 15. Various of homeless woman sheltering next to Brussels Midi train station 16. Wide of train station entrance STORYLINE: The Belgian government acknowledged that its major rail gateway, the Brussels Midi Station, has become a festering sore of drug abuse, poverty and violence that is a major stain on a nation preparing to take on the presidency of the European Union.  It vowed to tackle the problem, but critics said that action now is way too late, while others say that any cleanup operation will only push the big-city problems to other neighborhoods.   Belgium, one of the wealthiest nations in the world with a major tourism industry, has disregarded the once-stately Midi Station for decades, allowing it to become a symbol of dysfunctional government where increasingly many of the 160,000 daily commuters and tourists no longer feel safe. The increasing spread of crack cocaine, open dealing and use, in the neighborhood over the past year exacerbated an already bad situation to the point that petty theft, fights and harassment of tourists became everyday headline news in the nation of 11.5 million.      Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...