A wave of theft and vandalism has hit the downtown of Europe’s capital, only blocks away from where leaders have been trying to fix the continent’s debt crisis, provoking the local police chief to blame immigrants and drug addicts.
While government heads pulled up in the past few days in luxury cars shielded by security vehicles, the streets nearby revealed a cruder side to Europe’s economic troubles — shattered car window glass lining one major avenue and a slew of store windows smashed in a nearby neighbourhood.
The daily average tallied 26 thefts from vehicles, 13 pickpocket incidents and nine violent thefts last month in the zone of Brussels-Capital and Ixelles, police said. The zone covers large parts of the Brussels metropolitan area including the city center.
Pickpocket incidents in the year up to Nov. 1 were up to 3,020 this year from 2,509 in the same period of last year. Violent robberies rose to 1,955 from 1,725. Thefts from vehicles declined to 6,200 in the period this year from 6,500 last — but last month they went up by 16 percent.
Police chief Guido Van Wymerschn said that crime was rising because of drug addicts and illegal immigrants.
He told De Morgen newspaper, in an interview whose contents were confirmed by his spokeswoman, that he had nothing against foreigners and that some immigrant families were just seeking opportunities to get ahead in life.
However, he said, some immigrants were criminals who had already committed crimes in their own countries and the federal government should take action.
In Brussels, jewelry store owner Jacov Lamazi said he has increased security because of the crime wave.
He has always had security cameras, a guard dog, a baseball bat and a glass door he can see through before buzzing anyone into his Eli Lamazi Bijouterie-Jewelry.
However, a year-and-a-half ago, in a street just behind the offices of international firms such as Deutsche Bank, the owner of a nearby jewelry store was shot and killed.
“After last year I got two to three security men,” Lamazi said.
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