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General overview

According to the United States Department of State, Belgium is a relatively safe country compared to its neighbouring countries, but other sources show otherwise. According to Urban Audit, an organization which reports a range of statistics for cities in the EU, in 2001, Brussels had the fourth highest number of recorded crimes of European capitals (behind Stockholm,Amsterdam, and Berlin, and virtually on a par with Helsinki). According to the same source, Brussels had a rate of 10 murders or violent deaths per 100.000 citizens, which is five times higher than Paris (2 per 100.000) (but only two times higher than in Inner London, and the overall crime rate is similar to that of Paris). Belgium's second largest city, Antwerp, saw crime rates about 20 % below those of Brussels. Liège and Charleroi, industrial cities with high unemployment rates in Wallonia, saw more elevated crime rates than the less industrialized cities of Ghent and Bruges, in Flanders. The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States Government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... Nickname: The Capital Of Europe, Comic City City of a 100 Museums[] Map showing the location of Brussels in Belgium Coordinates: Country Belgium Region Brussels-Capital Region Founded 979 Founded (Region) June 18, 1989  - Mayor (Municipality) Freddy Thielemans Area    - City 162 (Region) km²  (62. ... Motto: In varietate concordia 2 Anthem: Ode to Joy 3 Commission seat Brussels Official languages 23 Member states 27 Presidencies  - Commission José Manuel Barroso  - Parliament Hans-Gert Pöttering  - Council Frank-Walter Steinmeier  - European Council Germany Formation    - Treaty of Rome 25 March 1957   - Maastricht Treaty 7 February 1992  Area  - Total...   (IPA: ; UN/LOCODE: SE STO) is the capital of Sweden, and consequently the site of its Government and Parliament as well as the residence of the Swedish head of state, King Carl XVI Gustaf. ... Amsterdam Location Flag Country Netherlands Province North Holland Population 741,329 (1 August 2006) Agglomeration - 1. ... Berlin is the capital city and one of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany. ... Founded 1550 Country Finland Province Southern Finland Region Uusimaa Sub-region Helsinki Area[1] - Of which land - Rank 185. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... For other uses, see Antwerp (disambiguation). ... Liege or Liège has several meanings: A liege is the person or entity to which one has pledged allegiance. ... Charleroi (Walloon: TchÃ¥lerwè) is the first city and municipality of Wallonia in population. ... Ghent municipality and district in the province East Flanders Ghent (IPA: ; Gent in Dutch; Gand in French, formerly Gaunt in English) is a city and a municipality located in Flanders, Belgium. ... Bruges called Brugge by its native Dutch language name which assumedly used to signify landing stage, is the capital of the province of West Flanders in present-day Flanders, the Flemish Region of Belgium. ...

In the last decades, attacks on money transit vans were perpetrated, often killing the security agents in charge, and the country was hit by several large-scale crime scandals, such as those of the tueurs du Brabant wallon, the mafia des hormones and the affaire Dutroux, presumably associated with police and political class corruption. Crime rates and urban violence are higher in poorer cities such as Liège and Charleroi. In addition, petty crimes such as street thefts, purse snatchings, and pickpocketing are common. Car theft also occurs frequently. Despite the fact that, on a daily basis and at first sight, Belgium can appear as a comparatively peaceful and quiet country, recent developments generate tensions in the social system. Marc Dutroux (born 6 November 1956 in Brussels) is a Belgian criminal, convicted of having, in 1995 and 1996, kidnapped, tortured and sexually abused six girls, ranging in age from 8 to 19, four of whom died as a result. ...

Crime and racial tension

A study based on data from 1999 concluded that minors of non-European nationality were overrepresented in crime statistics. While 4.4% of the Belgian population has a non-European nationality, 19% of all prosecuted cases, and 24% of cases presented in youth court involved non-European nationals. When foreign descent, instead of nationality, was used as a criterion, these numbers rose to 28% and 44% respectively. How much of the population would be classified as being of foreign descent according this criterion is unclear, which makes global conclusions based on the latter percentages rather speculative. 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

In 2002, there was some controversy when a Muslim teenager was found guilty of a robbery with murder and was sentenced to an admonition. However, the ruling was confirmed and the protests subsided.

Usually, serious safety issues in Brussels are mostly limited to residential boroughs with a low income population, mainly composed of North African immigrants. These include notably Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Schaarbeek, Anderlecht, and Vorst. Recently, violent muggings (in several cases resulting in death) and cases of women no longer being able to wear revealing clothes because of violence committed by radical Muslims against them, have also been reported in other parts of the city.

In November 2005, Brussels was very minorly affected by the spread of the French riots. Another recent development is a steep increase in violent armed robberies carried out by minors. Some of these are conducted by sneaking up to the victim and strangling him/her until he/she loses consciousness.

Terrorism and crime

Besides general safety issues in some boroughs, Brussels reportedly serves as a hub for terrorists, as reported by various sources such as Interpol, and local newspapers called Het Nieuwsblad and Het Volk. In the same boroughs that pose safety problems (e.g. Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Schaarbeek, ...) there is radicalisation and active recruitment by terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda. As stated by Hind Fraihi of Het Nieuwsblad, the recruitment is done in mosques, with the actual training done in Afghanistan. Recently a female suicide bomber in Iraq, Muriel Degauque, became the first Western suicide bomber in modern terrorism (although she was not trained in Brussels but in Charleroi, one of the cities with the highest crime rates in Belgium). Interpol, or International Criminal Police Organization, was established as The International Criminal Police Commission in 1923 to assist international criminal police cooperation. ...

The two Tunisian nationals who assassinated Commander Massoud in Afghanistan had fake Belgian passports, and the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain, or GICM) has links in Belgium too - there were arrests in Brussels and Antwerp of individuals involved in the Madrid bombing. The Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain, or GICM) is an extremist Islamic fundamentalist group operating in North Africa and suspected of having links with al-Qaida. ...

Belgium has also seen "hate crimes" against visible minorities recently, including the Hans Van Themsche case or other acts of racist violence highlighting Belgium's race anxiety. Hans Van Themsche, an agriculture student born in 1988, is a suspect in the shooting of three people in the city of Antwerp around 11h50 on May 11, 2006—killing a pregnant Malian nanny and a two-year-old caucausian child and wounding a woman of Turkish descent. ...

Sexual assault

Sexual assault also occurs in Belgium. This includes gang rapes and crimes committed by minors. In 2006, an eight year old boy was orally and anally raped during school time by two other boys (aged 9 and 11). Pedophilia as well is a big issue in Belgium since the well-known affaire Dutroux in the last decade, and public opinion in Belgium is much more sensitive to this issue since then. Marc Dutroux (born 6 November 1956 in Brussels) is a Belgian criminal, convicted of having, in 1995 and 1996, kidnapped, tortured and sexually abused six girls, ranging in age from 8 to 19, four of whom died as a result. ...

Some consequences in politics

One of the consequences of the rise in crime rates is that the Flemish right wing political party Vlaams Belang is close to an absolute majority among Flemish voters in Brussels, and is gaining support in Antwerp, the largest city of Flanders.

There are those, however, who doubt the press' sensationalist approach about crime, as well as many statistics that seem politically motivated to the benefit of the far right. Reading about Brussels in certain newspapers gives a completely different picture than if you enjoy an actual walk in the city. We must also remember that crime statistics sometimes reflect the effectiveness of the police or the reporting culture, rather than the actual number of crimes.

References

• Belgium, USA Department of State. Belgium.
• Urban Audit: How cities rank, Urban Audit: How cities rank, UrbanAudit.org.
• {Dutch} Abnormaal veel minderjarige allochtonen in criminaliteitscijfers, Het Laatste Nieuws.
• (Dutch) Brusselse vrouwen durven straat niet meer op, Elsevier.nl.
• (Dutch) Verdachte in roofmoordzaak vaste klant bij jeugdrechter, Het Laatste Nieuws.
• (Dutch) Aantal overvallen in Brussel is hoog, VRT Nieuws.
• (Dutch) Mening van de lezer: Voor een mp3-speler, Brusselnieuws.be.
• (Dutch) Tiener in Brussel-Centraal doodgestoken voor MP3-speler, Het Laatste Nieuws.
• Belgian 'suicide bomber' is named], BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4488642.stm. * De gang rape is een trend die blijkbaar blijft, De Morgen, 2001-12-01.
• (Dutch) Jonge leerlingen verkrachten 8-jarig kind op school (Young students rape 8 year old child at school). Het Laatste Nieuws (2006-05-19). Retrieved on 2006-05-27.
• Skinhead Rampage Highlights Belgium's Race Anxiety, TIME.com
• Dutch) Minderjarige doder Mombaerts na vijf jaar bestraft, Het Nieuwsblad.
• (Dutch) Proces Patrick Mombaerts, Robnet.be.

See also

• Brussels
• Joe Van Holsbeeck

Nickname: The Capital Of Europe, Comic City City of a 100 Museums[] Map showing the location of Brussels in Belgium Coordinates: Country Belgium Region Brussels-Capital Region Founded 979 Founded (Region) June 18, 1989  - Mayor (Municipality) Freddy Thielemans Area    - City 162 (Region) km²  (62. ... The Central station in Brussels. ...

External links

• UrbanAudit.org