It was an unusual sight in the normally quiet town of Leuven. A large group of sans papiers, being taken care of by the university under the leadership of current rector Vervenne, had come together at the Grote Markt to form a human chain around the town hall, symbolically taking hostage the authorities that do not want to grant them permission to stay in the country legally.

The Action Regularisation under which this demonstration fell, pleads for clear regularisation criteria and compliance, since the right of migration as described in article 13 of the Declaration of Human Rights by the UN implies that all people without papers should be regularized. This is clearly not the case now. The demands made were that the government should regularize the people currently illegally residing in Belgium and that the agreement that the government parties have on asylum and migration should be implied, since as long as that not is done, many people live wrongly in illegality and many are being imprisoned and deported without valid reason.

The current number of sans papiers in Belgium lies between the 50,000 and 100,000. Most of them are people that have been evaluated negatively and should therefore leave the country. For many though, this is impossible for political or other reasons or they just do not want to return. The past few years many actions have taken place, to wake up the authorities. The government however restricted its law on asylum seekers and refused to legally put down criteria for regularisation. This is why up till now only some people are regularized randomly.

The many actions the sans papiers have held already are supported by more than hundred Belgian organisations and trade unions. The responsible minister however keeps playing dumb as she refuses to create and accept some clear regulation laws. The Parliament seems to neglect the problems and should put more pressure on the government. Meanwhile the refugees are treated as if they are criminals, but their only fault is lacking the necessary papers. Kancha Babu Lama Sherpa, a 34 year old Nepalese guy that took part in the demonstration in Leuven says that when he arrived in Belgium in 2005 he was given a work-permission and was supported by the public centre for social welfare (OCMW), until a few months later he was interviewed with a negative result. Since then he lives without papers. He speaks a bit Dutch, but since losing his job he could not afford to go to the classes anymore and he was forced to quit. He says that it is difficult to stay, because “no work is no money and no money is no life”. Sherpa adds that he and the other sans-papiers feel encouraged by all the support they get from the people who fight for them, the university, its students, churches and the media, since they all help to put more pressure on the government. The demonstration was concluded with a moral appeal and a call for justice: “Give us a chance! We want to work and cherish new hopes and start a new life.”