Genk (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The Genk detention centre, scheduled to open in 2026, will hold inmates who need less than 3 years of detention service or electronic surveillance with ankle bracelet monitoring. The detention facility will occupy space in the former Rijkswacht barracks, which stand in Vennestraat Winterslag.
The Belgian detention centre at Genk is scheduled to start operations in 2026 at the location of the former Rijkswacht barracks in Vennestraat Winterslag. This facility provides space for short-term inmates who have received terms below three years alongside prisoners placed under electronic surveillance. The detention centre aspires to resolve prison congestion while improving feelings of lawlessness and teaching inmates important skills for their future societal integration.
The detention centre in Genk exists as a component of a wider strategic initiative to manage prison overcrowding because the existing facilities hold 13,000 detainees in designs intended for 11,000 inmates. Alain Yzermans explained to the public that the project stands among 720 detention place tenders distributed throughout 15 Flanders detention centres.
Genk operates as a rehabilitation centre along with Jemeppe-sur-Sambre in Wallonia. To help combat the 70% rate of Belgian recidivism, detainees will take part in managed activities, including administrative work and household chores, along with professional training. The facility will function through prison restrictions, but its primary goal will be to focus on inmate reintegration.
“At the moment, the prisons are overcrowded by around 17 percent. Of the 13,000 people in custody, there is only room for 11,000. Alternatives must therefore be found,”
Says Member of Parliament Alain Yzermans (Vooruit) of Houthalen-Helchteren.
“Detention centres can offer a solution. They are aimed at the recovery of prisoners and detainees. There was a tender file for 720 places, good for 15 detention centres in Flanders. Together with Jemeppe-sur-Sambre in Wallonia, a detention centre will open in Genk in 2026, this has been confirmed to me by Minister of Justice Annelies Verlinden (CD&V).”
The tender dossier has been delayed somewhat.
“It concerns an old dossier from 2021 that is now being revived,”
Yzermans continues.
“Detention centres have the same rules as in regular prisons. They are closed small-scale institutions, and they are focused on both the victim and the family environment of detainees. The detainees are people serving a sentence of less than 3 years.”
The convicts are guided to quickly re-enter society:
“In addition to the prison sentence, there must also be attention for recovery, so that people cannot relapse. Compared to other countries, the recidivism rate of 70 percent is high,”
Says Yzermans.
“For example, they learn to do administrative tasks in a group of 40 or work in the household. There is also attention for training and they must actively look for a job, so that they do not quickly relapse. That yields much more than locking convicts in a cell, without job prospects.”
What is the history of Genk’s new detention center?
Belgium established the Genk detention centre to support its initiatives for reducing prison overpopulation and decreasing prisoner relapse rates. The Belgian prison system contains 17% more inmates than its intended capacity of 11,000, which results in holding 13,000 detainees.
Member of Parliament for Vooruit Alain Yzermans said that the recidivism rate in Belgium reaches 70 %, which exceeds rates across various other nations. The project’s initiation through the 2021 tender dossier will establish 720 detention facilities over 15 centres throughout Flanders.
At the Genk facility, detainees serving sentences of less than three years can receive job training and engage in administrative duties within the facility located at the Vennestraat site of the former Rijkswacht barracks.
