The alarm raised by the Brussels prosecutor is clear: the system is saturated. Meanwhile, victims are waiting for answers. The MR is taking up the issue.
Last Tuesday, 14 April, MP Clémentine Barzin proposed in the Youth Aid committee that the Parliament of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation hear King's Prosecutor Julien Moinil. “He has already been heard at the Chamber and at the Brussels Parliament in the context of drug trafficking and the shootings that shake the capital every week. Given the powers of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation regarding youth aid and the care of young offenders, and the new cry of alarm he is raising in the media today, it seems logical and even urgent, given the state of the situation, that French-speaking parliamentarians hear him too,” she argues.
The Brussels public prosecutor's office has indeed once again sounded the alarm, after ten young people arrested for violent theft and drug trafficking had to be released due to a lack of places in IPPJ facilities.
MP Valérie Bluge adds: “The MR-LE government has released 19 million euros since the start of the legislature for youth aid, with an overall budget reaching more than 470 million euros this year. But concretely, not a single additional place in closed facilities has been created, either in Brussels or in Wallonia, and the Minister announces nothing before several months, or even next year. In the meantime, what do we do with these young people with a sorry track record and a growing sense of impunity? What message does this send to victims waiting for firm measures? We need to work on alternative solutions such as educational sentences with electronic monitoring. Faced with this juvenile delinquency, the police and juvenile justice are doing their job, but the enforcement of sentences by the FWB is not happening, and it is getting worse, placement delays are increasing further. Parliament must take responsibility to protect society and put these young people back on the right path.”
MP Nicolas Tzanetatos, for his part, recalls that “in 2018, Socialist Minister Rachid Madrane had a new legislative framework adopted which notably extended measures to those over 18, but in recent years we have rather observed increasingly early crime that is also evolving in its forms. We therefore need to review the mechanisms and adapt the responses, particularly waiver of jurisdiction and the use of electronic tags. This is what we are hearing from the field.”
“This is the point of the work we are doing and will continue to do in the coming months,” confirms group leader Diana Nikolic, who announces that the MR group is launching a series of meetings and field visits with its reference MPs on the subject: Clémentine Barzin (Brussels), Valérie Bluge (Liège), Nicolas Tzanetatos (Charleroi). This work will conclude with a day of discussions on the topic in early 2027.