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Belgian government to stop renting space in Dutch prison

11:52 22/10/2014

The new Belgian government is to cancel an agreement to rent cells in a Dutch prison in Tilburg to house Belgian criminals. The agreement will not be renewed when it ends in two years’ time, the cabinet said in a statement.

The government was forced in 2010 to rent unused prison cells in Tilburg’s Willem II Prison because of overcrowding in Belgian prisons. But the prison population has now dropped to 11,276, while the country has created 700 more cells.

The Dutch prison was holding 650 Belgians earlier this year, but 100 were repatriated to Belgium in July, saving the government €3 million out of a total annual bill of €42 million.

 

Written by Derek Blyth