By Melike Pala
BRUSSELS (AA) - Belgium’s Justice Ministry is considering installing a floating prison in a Belgian port capable of housing more than 300 inmates to ease overcrowding in existing facilities, Belgian newspaper De Tijd reported Friday.
Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden is examining the feasibility of using a floating vessel to house 300 to 350 prisoners.
The Netherlands has prior experience with floating infrastructure, having used pontoons in Ghent to accommodate migrants since the 2015 refugee crisis, though these were not detention facilities.
Verlinden emphasized that the project is still in an exploratory phase. Transforming a floating structure into a functional prison would require multiple steps, including obtaining authorization, building security infrastructure onshore, such as fencing, staff facilities, and visitor parking, and recruiting security personnel amid a labor shortage.
Meanwhile, Estonia has no plans to lease prison capacity to Belgium, Justice Minister Liisa Pakosta said, citing upcoming elections and the need to first assess an existing agreement with Sweden.
Belgium’s Asylum and Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt and Verlinden visited Estonia earlier this week to explore transferring convicted undocumented migrants to Estonian prisons, as Belgium faces severe overcrowding. Belgium currently has 13,456 inmates for 11,296 available places, while Estonia’s prison occupancy rate is about 60%.
Van Bossuyt had announced earlier that technical negotiations with Estonia would begin. Pakosta later said the current government and parliament would not consider additional prison rental agreements.
“We have made it absolutely clear that this government and this composition of the Riigikogu (the parliament) will not be discussing any additional prison rental issues,” Pakosta told Estonian public broadcaster ERR.
Belgian authorities confirmed that while political negotiations are on hold, technical contacts between the two countries will continue, Belga news agency reported Thursday.
Estonia has significant unused prison capacity due to its low crime rate. In 2023, it reached an agreement with Sweden to host up to 600 low-risk Swedish prisoners at its Tartu prison. Under the deal, awaiting ratification by both parliaments, Sweden would pay Estonia €8,500 ($10,021) per prisoner per month.