JAPA : Nigerian Nationals Sleep on Belgian Streets, Says Belgian Official

The Belgium government says Nigeria has the highest number of prostitutes in the country, saying many of them are sleeping in extremely cold weather among other illegal migrants in the country.

Director General, Office of Foreigners, Belgium, Mr. Freddy Roosemont, disclosed this at the weekend while speaking to journalists in Abuja.

Speaking on those desperate to travel abroad under what Nigerians call JAPA, Roosemont pleaded with the media to help educate Nigerian youths not to be deceived by hungry traffickers who promise to offer them jobs in Europe. The official said: “Nigerian youths need to know that the dream to go to Europe especially Belgium is not realistic. It is a very dangerous journey.

Their humanity will be taken away from them and they will end up in there and that’s why you have to inform your public, the people of Nigeria, the youth of Nigeria that things like that are still going on in Europe and in Belgium.

He stressed that most dreams of a better life in Europe are just fake as it is not easy to survive there, insisting that the economic meltdown is a global phenomenon.

According to him, the number of asylum seekers in Belgium has risen to 150.

Roosemont advised prospective irregular migrants to Europe to bury their dream as there is no more golden fleece in Europe, adding, “Those dreams are fake, they are not realistic at all.

It’s not easy to survive in Europe without a decent job and without sort of being an employee or employed by a university. The dream is fake.

The official warned that coming to Belgium to seek asylum would not also work as there is a low chance of obtaining a resident permit.

So, at the moment, we have to limit the reception of asylum seekers only to people who are vulnerable and that means families, women with children. No man alone, not in that group.

So, for the moment, there are lots of these asylum seekers living in Brussels on the street, and I can assure you the temperature in Brussels is not what it is here in Abuja. It got to minus seven, minus five. Now it’s around zero Celsius.

So it’s not easy to survive in Brussels without help, without assistance.

We are by law obliged to give that assistance but we simply can’t do it because places are filled up or simply filled up. It’s a very painful situation for Belgium, but it’s like that if you look at the newspapers, if you look at the journals, if you walk in the streets in Brussels, you’re going to see everywhere, people sleeping on the streets and people trying to survive without any help.