Around 75 homeless people are currently living at Brussels Airport, according to a report from the Belgian news outlet HLN. Many of them live in the departures terminal and appear to be passengers with suitcases and trolleys, but a recent increase in theft and drunken behaviour has led to calls for action.
Some airport traders have called on the authorities to take measures, with a number of incidents involving the theft of items from shops. Some of the homeless people cite the relative warmth of the airport, the generosity of passengers and the availability of facilities among the reasons why they live there.
One man who was interviewed said he was a dancer who had been waiting for a social housing allocation for several months, while a woman said she had been an economist in Poland before starting her own business in the Netherlands, which failed.
Airport closes from midnight to three a.m.
Brussels Airport acknowledges the problem and decided to give security officers more shifts to prevent nuisance. The airport will also close for the first time between midnight and three o’clock from Tuesday. “Normally the airport is indeed open 24/7, but it is now a temporary closure of a few weeks,” said spokeswoman Ihsane Chioua Lekhli. “The airport is not a shelter for the homeless. We will also carry out a major cleaning during that period to prepare for the summer period, but that is not possible with people at the airport.” The homeless were informed about the closure and other shelter locations thanks to chaplains from the airport and aid workers.
