Closure Brussels Beguinage Church Camp Afghan Refugees

20220108 ~ michelvanderburg

Closure Brussels Beguinage Church Camp Afghan Refugees | 20220108 | 1-memo•com |
After a silent protest march by Afghan asylum seekers and Belgians November 2013 into Brussels, the hundreds of Afghan refugees – children, women, men – set up a makeshift tent camp inside the Brussels’ Beguinage church. March 2014 , the women and children have found refugee elsewhere in the city, but the men stay. Early April 2014 it is decided, that April 15th everyone who sleeps here will be kicked out.
Reportage from the Beguinage church made by Michel van der Burg, April 7, 2014 interviewing the Belgian journalist Greet Verhaert and Afghan refugee Kamran – temporary resident of the camp. @HouseofCompassionBrussels

Closure Brussels Beguinage Church Camp Afghan Refugees | 20220108 | Reportage April 7, 2014 by Michel van der Burg with interviews of Greet Verhaert, and Kamran | Beguinage Project report by Kristen Cattell & Michel van der Burg | Miracles.Media

TAGS #Afghan #asylum #Brussels #Beguinage #church #refugee #camp #tent #Belgium #undocumented #sanspapiers #war #interview #reportage #street #justice #rights #BeguinageChurch #GreetVerhaert #KristenCattell #BeguinageProject #1Memo #michelvanderburg #MiraclesMedia #HouseofCompassion #hoc

Some Links

Afghans & Belgians « We want justice » EN & FR & NL | 20131130 https://youtu.be/Ur3JHnC2AmE

Samir Hamdard ~ Afghan Refugee Camp Brussels Beguinage Church | 20200729 https://youtu.be/W4-Pcx3q98I

Kids Parlement | Children’s Day | 20211120
https://youtu.be/Evlp_n_8IkU

JR Groninger Show Afghan Refugees Inside Out | 20220107
https://youtu.be/HXnKJfB9DLo

EPILOGUE

Some days later – April 14th, 2014 – Greet reported to me the interview she had with the priest Daniël Alliët in the Beguinage church :

“The decision was made by the priest and the Kerkfabriek (Michel – Kerkfabriek translates to ~ the Church administration of the Beguinage church). In the interview priest Daniel explains in a more nuanced way – the causes, trigger, consequences, vision – why the Afghans have to leave the church tomorrow. At first glance, it seems like a decision with negative consequences (30 people become homeless). But in the long run, I think it’s a step in the right direction.
After all, Afghans are not simply thrown out on the street. The church factory is intensively looking for alternative sleeping places. And the protest against the asylum policy has not diminished at all, but has simply been organized differently.”

Brussels’ Afghans Flee Taliban

2021082120210821 ~ michelvanderburg

Brussels’ Afghans Flee Taliban | 20210821 | Afghan refugee interview* by Kristen Cattell (USA) & Michel van der Burg (Holland) at the ‘Afghan camp’ inside the Béguinage Church in Brussels, Belgium – March 17, 2014 .

*One Afghan gentleman – who asked to remain anonymous – told us about his journey to Brussels. Interview anonymized by reconstruction using a disguised voice-over and visual and auditory imagery (organ Félix Snyers) captured March-April 2014 in the Church of Saint John the Baptist at the Béguinage in Brussels.

“When you are working with America or other organizations in Afghanistan the Taliban is a big problem. I was with the forces in Kandahar Province for one year. This was a big, big company in Kandahar. After one year the Taliban send some letters to my family saying, ‘Your son is working for the enemy.’ And they said, ‘He will come and he will work with us.’ Then I went to my home. And after the Taliban found out about me, I came to Iran, then I went to Europe, and this country.”

NL vertaling – translation dutch :

“Als je voor Amerika of andere organisaties in Afghanistan werkt, is de Taliban een groot probleem. Ik was een jaar bij de strijdkrachten in de provincie Kandahar. Dit was een groot, groot bedrijf in Kandahar. Na een jaar stuurden de Taliban enkele brieven naar mijn familie waarin ze zeiden: ‘Uw zoon werkt voor de vijand.’ En ze zeiden: ‘Hij moet bij ons komen werken.’ Ik ging naar huis. En toen de Taliban van mij wist, ging ik naar Iran, en vertrok vandaar naar Europa, en dit land.”

Reportage by Kristen Cattell (USA) & Michel van der Burg (Holland).
Remastered 2nd edition of film first published in 2015 (Béguinage shadows | 20151115).
Brussels’ Afghans Flee Taliban | 20210821 | michelvanderburg•com

TAGS #1Memo #michelvanderburg #BeguinageProject #houseofcompassionbrussels #Beguinage #church #Afghan #camp #refugee #tent #shelter #interview #Taliban #Belgium #Brussels #KristenCattell #asylum #undocumented #sanspapier #diversity #rights

LINKS More about the Beguinage Project here http://bit.ly/1HZguvY and here https://michelvanderburg.com/?s=Beguinage

Image The Other

20200801 ~ michelvanderburg

Image The Other ~
Expo ‘The Image of the Other’ filmed March 18, 2014 in the Brussels Bequinage church.

Imaging the Other , Imagining Danger. How are “others” depicted? Are stereotypes necessary or dangerous? Does the comparison with contemporary cartoons hold up?

Quote :
“The Image of the Other wants to dwell on the image of the ‘Other’ : ‘the Black’, ‘the Jew’ , ‘the Turk’ , ‘the Heretic’. Examples from the Flemish and Dutch religious art from around 1450 – 1750 reflects this perception.

In art , the ‘Other’ is often stereotyped. Works of medieval or renaissance now give us the impression of being racist or discriminatory. But what about our newspapers and advertisements” Are they doing so much better?

The way in which the ‘Other’ is imagined should better not be underestimated as this could lead to serious consequences. For example, certain stereotypical views remain for decades and these biases can be part of our overall imaging. This process can even develop into structural racism. In that sense, there is a certain danger in the images of the other from the past. So we are quite critical of the thousands of images that we see every day.” — Quote from the installation ‘DE ANDERE VERBEELD / VERBEELD GEVAAR’ (The Image of the Other / Imaginary Danger) by ORBIT.

With this exhibition ORBIT wants to critically analyze our view of “the other”, past and present. ORBIT not only wants to dwell on the portrayal of ‘the other’ in Christian art, but also wants to dwell on today’s portrayal in the media. How are “others” depicted? Are stereotypes necessary or dangerous?

Thanks to Karen Wyckmans , Heritage Project Coordinator | Project “De Andere Verbeeld” (The Image of the Other) | ORBIT – http://www.orbitvzw.be . More info at site https://deandereverbeeld.wordpress.com .
Thanks also to priest Daniel Alliët – host of both the expo and the concurrent Afghan Refugee Camp (March 2014) in the Brussels Beguinage Church (Saint John the Baptist at the Béguinage – Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste au Grand Béguinage ) – now House of Compassion – http://www.houseofcompassion.brussels .
In the background sound of the Afghan Refugee Camp and the Béguinage church pipe organ played during music lessons by Félix Snyers and student.
From the Beguinage Project by Kristen Cattell (USA) and Michel van der Burg (Holland).
Film : Image The Other | 20200801 | Michel van der Burg | michelvanderburg.com | miracles.media

Samir Hamdard ~ Afghan Refugee Camp Brussels Beguinage Church

2020072920200730 ~ michelvanderburg

Samir Hamdard ~ Afghan Refugee Camp Brussels Beguinage Church ~ In March 2014 Kristen Cattell (USA) and Michel van der Burg (Holland) traveled to Brussels, Belgium to meet a group of Afghans living inside an old Catholic church – the church of Saint John the Baptist at the Béguinage (Beguinage Church). At the time, nearly one hundred Afghan refugees had set up camp within the walls of the seventeenth century compound. We made a reportage and interviewed several people including Samir Hamdard (Ahmad Samir Hamdard) .
Samir the tireless activist of peace, justice and solidarity, was the spokesperson for the afghan refugees in Belgium – he died following a terrible fire accident that happened today a year ago (July 2019).

We thank Samir Hamdard and the other Afghan refugee friends who welcomed us and gave the interviews (note : full report of the other interviews in a follow-up later). Special thanks to Isabelle Marchal and others whose works were on display in the church and are shown in this film. Félix Snyers on the Béguinage church pipe organ.

Special thanks also to priest Daniel Alliët – host of the camp – who when retiring in 2019 started a new life for the church as House of Compassion – officially March 21 , 2020 – @houseofcompassionbrussels – http://www.houseofcompassion.brussels .

More about the Beguinage Project here http://bit.ly/1HZguvY and here https://michelvanderburg.com/?s=Beguinage

Béguinage shadows

2015111520210821 ~ michelvanderburg

Béguinage shadows | 20151115 | Final cut today at Vimeo of our Afghan refugee interview* at the ‘Afghan camp’ inside the Béguinage Church in Brussels, Belgium – March 17, 2014 .

*One Afghan gentleman, who asked to remain anonymous, told us about his journey to Brussels. Interview anonymized by reconstruction using a disguised voice-over and visual and auditory imagery (organ Félix Snyers) captured March-April 2014 in the Church of Saint John the Baptist at the Béguinage in Brussels.

“When you are working with America or other organizations in Afghanistan the Taliban is a big problem. I was with the forces in Kandahar Province for one year. This was a big, big company in Kandahar. After one year the Taliban send some letters to my family saying, ‘Your son is working for the enemy.’ And they said, ‘He will come and he will work with us.’ Then I went to my home. And after the Taliban found out about me, I came to Iran, then I went to Europe, and this country.”

More about the Beguinage Project here and here .

Reportage by Kristen Cattell (USA) and Michel van der Burg (Holland) | Beguinage Project .
Film : Béguinage shadows | 20151115 | michelvanderburg.com

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