Belgium Prison Staff Launch Nationwide Strike Over Severe Overcrowding

(MENAFN) Prison staff across Belgium have begun a nationwide strike over worsening conditions in the country’s correctional system, with unions citing severe overcrowding, increasing violence, and excessive workloads, according to reports.

The strike started at 6 a.m. local time on Monday after negotiations between trade unions and the office of Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden failed to produce an agreement on how to address the ongoing crisis in prisons.

In an unusual development, prison directors reportedly expressed support for the strike, describing the current conditions as “untenable.”

Mathilde Steenbergen, head of Belgium’s prison administration, was expected to visit a strike gathering at Lantin prison in a show of solidarity with staff.

Official figures indicate that Belgian prisons currently hold around 13,733 inmates, despite having an operational capacity of 11,064. Reports also note that 754 prisoners are being housed on mattresses placed directly on floors due to lack of space.

Trade unions have warned that staffing shortages and increasing levels of violence inside prisons are worsening the situation, with concerns that pressures could escalate further during the summer period.

Authorities have also reported a sharp rise in serious incidents within prisons over the past year, alongside a more than 30% increase in work absences linked to injuries caused by inmate aggression over the past two years.

The situation has drawn broader concern at the European level, with the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture warning recently that persistent overcrowding across European prisons could lead to conditions amounting to “inhuman and degrading treatment.”

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