Openly gay Belgian MP Gilles Verstraeten has suggested that he is fearful of holding hands with another man in the no-go Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, claiming integration of migrants has been poorly managed.
Verstraeten, a member of the centre-right New Flemish Alliance, highlighted the issues of integration in areas like Molenbeek, a well-known hotspot for radical Islamist activity.
The MP stated that “it must be admitted that there is a concern in some communities with a migrant background. Thus, for example, a majority of Muslims in Belgium want to make living together work and a fairly large minority, unfortunately, opposes it and is very visibly represented in some of our neighbourhoods,” broadcaster RTBF reports.
“People who identify more with their religion than with our laws. We have to work on it to establish a common project,” Verstraeten said and added, “The problem is that in some Brussels neighbourhoods because the integration of migrants has been poorly managed, some live alongside the rest of society.”
Belgium Strips Residency of Imam of Largest Mosque Over Security Concernshttps://t.co/4bZCUlMlXh
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“I will give the example of homosexuality. I am a gay man. Marriage was approved in 2003, and adoption in 2006. In some villages in Flanders, this is obvious. But personally in my neighbourhood in Cureghem, at the bottom of Molenbeek, I dare not walk hand in hand with a man,” he said.
The MP’s statements come just days after the President of the Flemish Socialist party Vooruit, Conner Rousseau, was slammed for saying that he did not feel like he was in Belgium when driving through the streets of Molenbeek.
The Mayor of Molenbeek, Catherine Moureaux, reacted to the comments by saying, “He has never come to Molenbeek. His remark is in line with the caricatures of the far-right, with which he insults 100,000 Molenbeek inhabitants.”
For years Molenbeek has been known as one of the major hubs of Islamic extremism in Europe and was the area in which 2015 Bataclan terrorist Salah Abdeslam fled after his suicide vest failed to detonate. Abdeslam was able to live in the suburb for months before finally being arrested in 2016.
Last year another jihadist, who was wanted by Spanish authorities, was discovered living in Molenbeek after the country issued a European Arrest Warrant (EAW). The 22-year-old had previously been convicted for glorifying terrorist attacks in 2018.
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