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|  07-09 / 24-09 Research Report
Experts
ingly with those areas when visiting.
The first expert that was consulted is Ilse Devliegher. She is an inhabitant of the Borghout neighborhood.
She also says that the Jewish community in Borgerhout owns several streets there, in order to regulate the new inhabitants of those streets. Hence, when a house is vacant, the new resident is almost always from Jewish descent.
1. What is your experience concerning living in a multicultural neighborhood? 2. Do you feel safe or unsafe in the neighborhood and why? 3. Do you see any differences between cultures? If so, in what way? 4. Do you contact people from a differenct cultural background often? If so: how? If not: why not? 5. Are there any plans in Borgerhout to solve any of the problems? If so, what kind of plans?
Ilse does not connect much with other cultures in the neighborhood; it is only with the neighbors she shares a bond. This is pretty much the same for the rest of the area. The second expert is Floor Mathijssen. She worked on a project with refugees, and their integration into society. 1. You did a project concerning illegal refugees. What was the goal of this project? 2. How did the refugees feel in this different country? Did the stick to themselves? Did they often group with people from their own culture or did they mingle with others? What kind of atmosphere was there between the refugees?
6. In what way do you see any progression or regression in the neighborhood?
3. Did any of the of the refugees feel like they had a future in the Netherlands? Were they optimistic or not?
In the appendix the full interview can be viewed in Dutch. The main topic in the answers of the interview is about how to behave in order to function in that neighborhood.
4. You mentioned that you did workshops with the refugees? What kind of workshops were those?
Ilse says that she feels safe in the neighborhood because of the connections she has created with her neighbors over time. She acknowledges that there are certain areas in which it is not very safe to go as a girl, but says she is able to deal accord-
5. How did you try to improve the situation for the refugees?