Tempers are running high on the Belgian-Dutch border. Young protesters even travel from Brussels to vent.
Midsummer temperatures are also hitting young people’s heads at Dutch and Belgian outdoor pools. Troublesome incidents, fights and sexual harassment of women and girls are becoming more frequent. In the southern Dutch town of Terneuzen and the municipalities of Sas van Gent and Axel in the Dutch province of Zeeland Flanders, which are right on the border with Belgium, city councils have taken drastic measures that do not fit in at all with the idea of a united EU.
Bathers from Belgium are no longer welcome in these communities. They have introduced an ID requirement for beachgoers over 14. For lifeguards, not only whistles are part of the equipment, but also bodycams to track rioters on site.
violence and harassment
The backdrop for tight controls: Young Belgians, in particular, are increasingly traveling from far and wide to blow off steam in Dutch swimming pools – some from Brussels. Some of them were banned from Belgian outdoor swimming pools because they attracted negative attention through violence and harassment of other swimmers.
What’s happening on the Belgian-Dutch border is also happening further south on the Belgian-French border, in pools in the Belgian border town of Kortrijk. It was mainly young French people who showed behavioral problems there. There are now more than 100 people on the blacklist. Lifeguard Elewin Werbrouck told the Brussels newspaper “De Standaard”: “Security forces are now also being deployed here.” But he put it in perspective: “Anyone who follows the rules and has good manners is welcome here. Only the troublemakers need stay outside.”
Terneuzen
In the Dutch municipality, lifeguards are equipped with body cameras, staff also carry out identity checks and reserve the right not to allow entry to Belgian bathers. Previously, there were problems with Belgian youth.