Seven charities have lodged an appeal to Belgium’s Council of State regarding a new anti-begging bylaw adopted by the City of Brussels, which targets child begging in particular. “Repression is still not the solution to the problems of poverty that are increasingly affecting a section of the Brussels population,” the charities said in a joint statement. While a previous version of the anti-begging law had already been overturned by the administrative court in November 2025, the organisations argue that its newest iteration does not address
the criticisms raised. The newest version of the bylaw prohibits begging with children under the age of 16 in the Pentagon area, as well as on Place Louise and Avenue Louise, under penalty of a fine of up to €500. The previous regulation provided for a fine of €350. The seven organisations – including the League of Human Rights, ATD Fourth World, the SDF Common Front and the homeless organisation Rom en Rom, which works with Roma families – deplore the increase in the fine
and said that they saw the same “legal fragility” in the new text. “No fine has ever helped anyone get off the streets – quite the opposite,” the organisation wrote, stating that the decree is “disproportionate, ineffective in helping these families and contrary to the best interests of the child”. The organisations also stress that the decision has not brought about any concrete improvement in the situation of the children and families. Several months after the text came into force, for example, none of the
children concerned had been enrolled in school. For the organisations opposing the measure, the real aim of the decree is “to drive the people concerned out of public spaces and render them invisible”. Begging has not been a criminal offence in Belgium since 1993, but 305 of the 581 Belgian towns and municipalities have their own begging regulations. In 253 cases, the regulations appear to be “problematic”, according to a 2023 analysis by the Federal Institute for Human Rights (FIRM). In the Brussels region, Brussels-City
was the only municipality with such regulations at that time. Intrusive or “aggressive begging” was prohibited throughout the entire territory of the city and, in 2022, the city decided for the first time to ban begging involving children under the age of 16. “This is an approach that has failed,” said the seven organisations behind the Council of State appeal. They are asking the Council of State to overturn the new decree. A date for an initial hearing or a subsequent ruling has not yet
been set.
Brussels, anti-begging law, child begging, Council of State, fines, poverty, League of Human Rights, ATD Fourth World, SDF Common Front, Rom en Rom, Pentagon area, Place Louise, Avenue Louise