Brussels was hit by Muslim riots in 2009, when police were attacked with Molotov cocktails and gas cylinders, and suffered a previous immigrant crime wave in 2010. Many neighbourhoods are considered no-go areas for indigenous people and policemen.
As Europe’s leaders dither over attempts to save the doomed single currency, another immigrant crime wave has swept across Brussels. Just blocks away from where heads of state recently met to discuss Europe’s worsening debt crisis, shattered car window glass lines one major avenue, and a multitude of store windows stand smashed in a local neighbourhood.
October’s daily average of offences in the zone of Brussels-Capital and Ixelles tallied 26 thefts from vehicles, 13 pickpocket incidents and nine violent thefts, according to police. The zone covers large parts of the Brussels metropolitan area, including the city centre.
Pickpocket incidents up to November 1 were up to 3,020 this year from 2,509 in the same period of 2010. Violent robberies rose to 1,955 from 1,725. Thefts from vehicles declined to 6,200 in the period this year from 6,500 last – but in October they went up by 16 percent.
Police chief Guido Van Wymerschn says that crime is rising due to illegal immigrants and drug problems.
He told De Morgen newspaper that some immigrants were criminals who had already committed crimes in their own countries and the federal government should take action.
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