Crime in Belgium
Encyclopedia
Belgium
is considered a relatively safe country compared to its neighbouring countries. According to Urban Audit, 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. Belgium's second largest city, Antwerp, saw crime rates about 20% below those of Brussels. Liège
and Charleroi
, industrial cities with high unemployment rates, saw more elevated crime rates than the less industrialized cities of Ghent
and Bruges
. The rural areas are generally extremely safe.
,the Scarface gang
and the Belgian Mafia. More recently, some scandals have emerged regarding corruption and misuse of public resources (such as ICDI affair). In addition, petty crimes such as street thefts, purse snatchings, and pickpocketing can be found in the main city centers, but remain limited in scale. Car theft used to occur frequently, but is in strong diminution in the last decade.
Usually, serious safety issues in Brussels are mostly limited to residential boroughs with a low income population. These include notably Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Schaarbeek
, Anderlecht
, and Forest/Vorst
.
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.
However, as official statistics show the trend for violent crime is strongly downward, murder rate is stable, around 1.8 per 100.000 inhabitants, while Cybercrime
related issues are very steeply on the rise.
, and local newspapers such as 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
. This remains however very limited in scale, the occurrence of Belgian nationals directly linked to international terrorism hovering around 0.1-1 per million inhabitants for the last decade.
The two Tunisian nationals who assassinated Commander Massoud in Afghanistan
had fake Belgian passport
s, 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. As a result, stringent measures were taken against passport and other official documents forging.
Belgium has also seen "hate crimes" against visible minorities recently, including the Hans Van Themsche
case, the Patrick Mombaerts case or other acts of racist violence.
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
is considered a relatively safe country compared to its neighbouring countries. According to Urban Audit, in 2001, Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
had the fourth highest number of recorded crimes of European
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
capitals (behind Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, and virtually on a par with Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
). According to the same source, Brussels had a rate of 10 murders or violent deaths per 100.000 citizens. Belgium's second largest city, Antwerp, saw crime rates about 20% below those of Brussels. Liège
Liège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
and Charleroi
Charleroi
Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. , the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and had a total population of 522,522 as of 1 January 2008, ranking it as...
, industrial cities with high unemployment rates, saw more elevated crime rates than the less industrialized cities of Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
and Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
. The rural areas are generally extremely safe.
Gangs in Belgium
In the 1990s and early 2000s, 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 Brabant Wallon killersNijvel gang
The Nijvel gang or the Brabant killers is a group or groups thought to be responsible for the "Brabant massacres", a series of violent attacks that occurred mostly in the province of Brabant in Belgium...
,the Scarface gang
Scarface gang
The Scarface gang is a criminal gang from Belgium, consisting of two to six men and sometimes a woman, which is responsible for a series of violent armed robberies in Belgium, the Netherlands and France. The gang was named by the media after the 1983 American movie Scarface...
and the Belgian Mafia. More recently, some scandals have emerged regarding corruption and misuse of public resources (such as ICDI affair). In addition, petty crimes such as street thefts, purse snatchings, and pickpocketing can be found in the main city centers, but remain limited in scale. Car theft used to occur frequently, but is in strong diminution in the last decade.
Belgian Mafia
- Belgian mafia
- Nijvel gangNijvel gangThe Nijvel gang or the Brabant killers is a group or groups thought to be responsible for the "Brabant massacres", a series of violent attacks that occurred mostly in the province of Brabant in Belgium...
- Haemers gangPatrick HaemersPatrick Haemers was a Belgian criminal. He was head of the gang which kidnapped former Belgian prime minister Paul Vanden Boeynants from January 14, 1989 to February 13, 1989...
- Bonnot GangBonnot gangThe Bonnot Gang was a French criminal anarchist group that operated in France and Belgium during the Belle Époque, from 1911 to 1912...
- Scarface gangScarface gangThe Scarface gang is a criminal gang from Belgium, consisting of two to six men and sometimes a woman, which is responsible for a series of violent armed robberies in Belgium, the Netherlands and France. The gang was named by the media after the 1983 American movie Scarface...
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.Usually, serious safety issues in Brussels are mostly limited to residential boroughs with a low income population. These include notably Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Schaarbeek
Schaarbeek
Schaerbeek or Schaarbeek is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. The first mention of the name was Scarenbecca, recorded in a document from the Bishop of Cambrai in 1120...
, Anderlecht
Anderlecht
Anderlecht is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region.There are several historically and architecturally distinct districts within the Anderlecht municipality.-Pronunciation:* Dutch: * French:...
, and Forest/Vorst
Forest, Belgium
Forest or Vorst is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium.The town is commonly known for its concert hall...
.
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.
However, as official statistics show the trend for violent crime is strongly downward, murder rate is stable, around 1.8 per 100.000 inhabitants, while Cybercrime
Computer crime
Computer crime, or cybercrime, refers to any crime that involves a computer and a network. The computer may have been used in the commission of a crime, or it may be the target. Netcrime refers to criminal exploitation of the Internet. Such crimes may threaten a nation’s security and financial health...
related issues are very steeply on the rise.
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 InterpolInterpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
, and local newspapers such as Het Nieuwsblad and Het Volk. In the same boroughs that pose safety problems (e.g. Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Schaarbeek
Schaarbeek
Schaerbeek or Schaarbeek is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. The first mention of the name was Scarenbecca, recorded in a document from the Bishop of Cambrai in 1120...
, ...) there is radicalisation and active recruitment by terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
. This remains however very limited in scale, the occurrence of Belgian nationals directly linked to international terrorism hovering around 0.1-1 per million inhabitants for the last decade.
The two Tunisian nationals who assassinated Commander Massoud in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
had fake Belgian passport
Belgian passport
Belgian passports are issued to citizens of Belgium to facilitate international travel. The Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs is responsible for issuing and renewing Belgian passports.-Types of Passports:...
s, and the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group
Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group
The Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group or Moroccan Islamic Fighting Group is a Sunni Islamist terrorist organization affiliated with al-Qaeda. It is sometimes referred to as GICM after its French name Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain...
(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. As a result, stringent measures were taken against passport and other official documents forging.
Belgium has also seen "hate crimes" against visible minorities recently, including the Hans Van Themsche
Hans Van Themsche
Hans Van Themsche was, at age 18, a student who, in the city of Antwerp, shot three people; life-threateningly injuring one and killing two, before being stopped by a police bullet...
case, the Patrick Mombaerts case or other acts of racist violence.