Overcrowding in Ghent prison reached alarming proportions in 2024, according to a new report by the Inspection Committee. The number of complaints from inmates about living conditions in the prison has risen sharply.
The average number of inmates in Ghent prison reached 449 last year, while the maximum capacity according to European standards is 234. A peak of 475 prisoners was recorded on 3 December, including 51 people sleeping on the floor.
Belgium has been struggling with prison overcrowding for years. In March, the country’s prison population reached a record high of 13,000 inmates, with hundreds sleeping on the floor and prison authorities warning that the situation has reached a humanitarian crisis.
Inadequate psychiatric care
Although the opening of a new prison in Dendermonde in 2023 provided temporary relief for Ghent prison, the effect was short-lived. Capacity shortages in Ghent remain acute and Dendermonde is now also struggling with overcrowding.
In addition to overcrowding, the Inspection Committee identified a number of other structural problems, including grossly inadequate psychiatric care capacity, while the number of inmates requiring specialist psychiatric care has risen to 193.
‘Completely degrading’
Life in the prison has largely come to a standstill, with group activities, sports, education and recreation completely suspended since February 2024 due to understaffing and overcrowding. Conditions in the prison’s segregation cells have been described as “completely degrading”.
The number of prisoner complaints rose to 682 in 2024, a 172 per cent increase on the previous year. Ghent prison seriously fails to guarantee humane conditions of detention, the Committee concluded, calling for urgent structural measures at national level.
