Inside Europe’s Overcrowded Prisons: “Like Mice in a Cage” Conditions Exposed

Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1204 EAT on Tuesday 2 June 2026

Over the past decade, the 34-year-old has served sentences in five prisons across Belgium. He most vividly recalls conditions at Mons, a 19th-century facility near the French border, where he says 9-square-metre (97-square-foot) cells were shared by three to four inmates.

He described repeated outbreaks of scabies, bedbugs and monkeypox, which he says spread widely within the prison, alongside severe exhaustion among overworked prison staff.

“During my 10 years in prison, things only got worse,” Bilal told Al Jazeera, speaking on condition that only his first name be used. “They reduced our time outside our cells and cut back on various activities.”
Belgium, one of Europe’s wealthiest nations, is facing a worsening prison overcrowding crisis.

In mid-May, the country’s 39 prisons held 13,733 inmates—well above an official capacity of 11,064, according to figures from the Directorate-General of Prisons.

“The combination of ever-increasing overcrowding and staff shortages makes the situation very, very, very difficult,” said Pieter Houbey, vice-chair of the Central Prison Monitoring Council (CCSP), an independent oversight body.

“It has become almost impossible to maintain a detention system that is meant to focus on reintegration,” he added.
The strain is also evident on the ground, with 754 detainees sleeping on mattresses on the floor in mid-May, up from 672 in December.

Across Europe, prison populations have surged since the COVID-19 pandemic, with overcrowding now affecting roughly one-third of prison administrations.
The highest occupancy rates are recorded in Cyprus, followed by Slovenia, France, Croatia, Italy, Romania, Austria and Belgium.

As part of a stricter migration policy, Belgium is also exploring ways to deport detainees without legal residency, who account for about a third of the prison population.

Earlier this year, Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden visited Estonia to discuss the possibility of renting prison cells abroad. The government has also examined similar arrangements with Kosovo and Albania.
Belgium is not alone in considering such agreements. Sweden has signed a deal with Estonia to rent 400 prison cells, with the Estonian Ministry of Justice saying inmates could begin arriving by the end of the summer. In 2019, Denmark reached an agreement with Kosovo to rent 300 prison cells.

However, critic Vanhouche described the initiatives as “very populist and symbolic,” arguing that while they may have a limited practical impact, they raise serious ethical concerns over prisoners’ rights and welfare.
The Belgian Ministry of Justice, along with its Swedish and Danish counterparts, did not respond to requests for comment. The Estonian Ministry of Justice said prisoners would remain protected under European human rights standards and applicable international law.

Ways forward

Critics are urging Belgium to shift towards a stronger focus on reintegration, including greater use of alternative sentencing to reduce prison overcrowding.

“Prison leads to recidivism,” warned Tahar Elhamdaoui, founder of the NGO Collectif Désistance, which supports young former prisoners reintegrating into society.
According to Pieter Houbey, Belgium’s recidivism rate stands at between 60 and 70 percent.

With support from Elhamdaoui’s NGO, Bilal is now interning as a football coach, while another former inmate, Loïc*, is participating in day-release work programmes.

However, Elhamdaoui cautioned that such initiatives remain limited in scope.
“As long as there are no prisons that prepare people to succeed outside,” he said, “we will not only be producing more crime upon release, but also deepening a sense of despair that prevents reintegration into society.”

-Aljazeera

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