 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Would you like to help us?
Our bank details are:
- clothing, shoes, furniture, kitchen items, bedding etc. What is the "Olivier" ? Presentation The Society of Saint-Vincent de Paul is composed of 850.000 volunteers worldwide. In Belgium we number some 3.500, divided among 360 local groups called ‘Conferences’. The 'Olivier' is a specialised centre whose goal is to bring help to foreign nationals, be they refugees or displaced persons, whatever their status here in Belgium or in their country of origin. Our desire is to listen to, to come to know and to befriend these marginalised and misunderstood people, with whom Christ identifies himself:
The "Olivier" is also committed to looking and going further, working 'upstream' to promote a fairer and more consistent asylum system:
The "Olivier" provides the following services:
Why the "Olivier" ? Article from "The Bulletin" (Brussels) Because, for a number of years, there have been more than 20 million refugees, including 1 million children, throughout the world. No solution at a national level can solve the myriad difficulties brought about by these movements of populations fleeing war, famine, disease, dictatorship, injustice, privation and natural disaster at home. The vast majority of these migrants are taken in by the poor, less-developed countries of the world. Furthermore, the latter continue to be systematically marginalised by the policies of the rich world - in June 2000, more than 1.2 billion people were living on less than a dollar a day! Both individually and at a supranational level, the countries of the Northern hemisphere appear to panic in the face of the waves of refugees which beat with increasing insistence at their borders. Their reaction is to pass 'knee-jerk', uncoordinated legislation which is increasingly inhumane. From this phenomenon springs another, that of the uncontrolled burgeoning of cruel and cynical clandestine immigration networks, which impoverish and kill their desperate victims, who are thus doubly punished. Throughout the rich world then, an increasingly draconian approach (which evolves at astonishing speed and is often accepted through legal subterfuge which bypasses the elected representatives and their constituencies, but which is passively or actively accepted after the event) is sweeping aside or limiting the rights of asylum-seekers by sowing their path with often insurmountable obstacles. In this way, the letter of the Geneva Convention is largely respected, while its spirit is betrayed. For the great majority of foreign nationals in Europe, then, the harsh reality is that such rights as the automatic examination of the individual asylum request, the right of residence and to social security during appeal periods, the right to work , to healthcare or to free movement within the host country, exist only in theory. Other fundamental freedoms are violated by the increasing and inhumane recourse to systematic incarceration for asylum-seekers. Faced with the growing number of asylum seekers who are rejected, either provisionally or definitively, and left to fend entirely for themselves within Belgium, the Society of Saint-Vincent de Paul refuses to remain indifferent. That is why, in 1996, we opened the "Olivier", because:
During its five years of existence, our social service has opened more than 1.250 dossiers per year, each representing one or more precious human lives... Who are we? Our team is made up of about 35 volunteers and 6 permanent staff, both men and women, from the following countries: Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Belgium, DRC, France, Ireland, Kazahkstan, Madagascar, Morocco, Moldova, Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Spain, United Kingdom, USA. Our opening hours are as follows: From Monday to Friday: 09.30 to 13.00 Contact Information : Rue de la Rosée 9, 1070 Bruxelles |
|
|
 |
