Should Brussels replace Includo’s social outreach teams on the metro?
Brussels MP Sofia Bennani has called for the STIB’s Includo outreach service to be replaced and its funding redirected to specialist associations, opening a dispute with Mobility Minister Elke Van den Brandt over how the capital should respond to homelessness and drug use on its metro network.
The dispute affects how Brussels balances passenger safety, humane treatment and scarce social-service funding. It also asks whether a transport operator is best placed to conduct frontline outreach or whether specialist associations could deliver stronger long-term outcomes.
MP of Les Engagés has called for the STIB’s social-outreach service to be scrapped and its resources transferred to specialist organisations such as , a proposal rejected by Brussels Mobility Minister of Groen. The dispute, reported on 22 August and corroborated by and on 24 August, concerns a regional public service operating in the everyday spaces used by residents, commuters, expatriates and staff travelling to Belgium’s national and EU institutions.
Bennani argues that running social patrols is not the core purpose of ’ public-transport operator. She put ’s resources at €6 million and said established associations possess greater expertise in homelessness and addiction. Citing reports from Yser, Aumale and Saint-Guidon stations, she described encounters with people using drugs or sleeping rough as possible at any hour and said the situation contributes to passengers’ sense of insecurity. Her proposal has not yet produced a confirmed budget transfer or government decision.
Van den Brandt defended a different division of labour. She told Belgian media that a purely security-led approach merely displaces people to another station or into surrounding streets. Because the STIB is present throughout its own network for most of the day, she argued, its teams can establish contact where distress is actually visible. Her framing is that connects people to specialist services rather than replacing those organisations.
The STIB’s own figures provide some evidence for that account, although they are operational results rather than an independent evaluation. In a December 2025 statement, the operator said had made about 5,700 outreach visits and intensively followed roughly 300 people during its first year. Its 23 outreach workers and three managers operated between 6am and 2am, using two buses and an adapted van. The service began on 1 November 2024 and was modelled partly on the RATP’s long-running social-outreach operation in the Paris metro.
That record does not settle Bennani’s central question: whether the same money would achieve more if entrusted directly to established social organisations. No publicly cited comparative assessment demonstrates whether the STIB model produces better housing, treatment or safety outcomes than an association-led alternative. Nor do the published totals show how many contacts led to stable accommodation, sustained healthcare or recovery support. The distinction matters because outreach can create trust, but it cannot manufacture shelter places, affordable housing or treatment capacity.
’ wider homelessness figures explain why the metro has become a pressure point rather than the source of the crisis. counted 9,777 people without a home in the Brussels-Capital Region on the night of 6 to 7 November 2024, 24.5% more than in 2022 under a comparable methodology. Nearly 1,000 were living in public space. Stations offer shelter, visibility and passing services, but the STIB has itself stressed that transport infrastructure is not dignified accommodation.
The two political positions therefore overlap more than their clash suggests. Bennani and Van den Brandt both say people in distress should not be left in stations; they disagree over which institution should make first contact and control the resources. Specialist associations emphasise pathways into care and housing, while the operator must also keep trains and stations accessible and safe for passengers. Treating homelessness and drug dependency as interchangeable would further obscure the different interventions each may require.
Internationally, reflects a broader European shift away from relying exclusively on police or security staff in transport systems. The Paris comparison supports keeping trained outreach close to the network, but it does not automatically prove that the design or budget is optimal. Brussels is also the seat of major EU institutions, yet this remains a city and regional-policy dispute rather than an EU competence: the relevant decision-makers are the Brussels government, parliament, STIB and regional social-service network.
The next meaningful step would be publication of an independent outcome-based evaluation comparing cost, referrals and durable exits from the metro with credible alternatives. Until then, Bennani’s proposal remains a political demand and continues operating. The unanswered question is not simply who should patrol the stations, but whether can provide somewhere safe for outreach teams to send the people they meet.
Impact
Regional — Any change would affect metro users across Brussels and the organisations receiving referrals, while potentially shifting regional funds and responsibility between the STIB and the homelessness and addiction-support sector.
Local — The decision would be felt across Brussels’ metro and pre-metro stations rather than in one commune or on one line. Passengers could encounter a different frontline response to homelessness, visible drug use and distress if Includo is replaced. People approached on the network could also be referred through different organisations or pathways. For STIB-MIVB, Samusocial and other specialist associations, the practical issue is who employs outreach staff, controls the budget and coordinates social intervention with transport-security teams across the regional network.
What it means for you
No immediate change to metro services, fares or passenger rules has been announced. Brussels commuters should continue to use existing STIB-MIVB assistance and emergency channels when someone faces immediate danger, while recognising that outreach teams perform a different role from security staff. People seeking homelessness or addiction support may continue to encounter Includo workers while the political debate proceeds. The concrete decision to watch is whether the Brussels authorities retain Includo within STIB-MIVB or transfer its funding and responsibilities to specialist organisations; the supplied material gives no implementation date or confirmed budget change.
Opposing perspectives
- Sofia Bennani and association-led provision
Bennani says social outreach falls outside the STIB’s principal transport mission and that the reported €6 million should support experienced organisations such as Samusocial. She argues that Includo duplicates existing expertise while passengers continue to encounter visible distress and feel unsafe.
- Elke Van den Brandt and network-based outreach
Van den Brandt says the STIB’s continuous presence on its network gives Includo access that outside organisations cannot fully replicate. In her account, security measures alone move vulnerable people elsewhere, whereas outreach at stations can build contact and direct them towards specialised support.
- STIB-MIVB operational perspective
The transport operator describes Includo as a link to, rather than a substitute for, specialist associations. It reports thousands of contacts but also acknowledges that stations cannot serve as dignified accommodation and that outreach depends on sufficient shelter and longer-term services.
Who, where and what
Key people, places and terms in this story
City and region whose metro network and social-service system are affected by the dispute.
Brussels mobility minister defending a social response alongside security measures on the transport network.
Brussels MP calling for Includo to be replaced and its resources redirected to specialist organisations.
Brussels public-transport operator that runs the Includo outreach service.
News outlet reporting on Bennani’s proposal and the metro debate.
Show the full library (12)
Brussels MP calling for Includo to be replaced and its resources redirected to specialist organisations.
Brussels mobility minister defending a social response alongside security measures on the transport network.
City and region whose metro network and social-service system are affected by the dispute.
Brussels public-transport operator that runs the Includo outreach service.
News outlet reporting on Bennani’s proposal and the metro debate.
STIB-MIVB social-outreach unit working with people experiencing homelessness, precarious housing or addiction on the network.
Specialist homelessness organisation cited by Bennani as a possible recipient of redirected Includo resources.
Brussels homelessness-sector coordinating body that conducted the November 2024 homelessness count.
Brussels outreach organisation whose SubLINK activity report is among the sources on file.
Diogenes programme documented in an activity report included among the article’s sources.
Brussels regional broadcaster reporting on the call to end Includo.
Brussels news outlet reporting on the proposed transfer of Includo resources.
Sources & evidence
- View sourceLa Dernière HeurePrimaryprimary· dhnet.be· 22 August 2026Retrieved 26 August 2026· 41 days ago· Dated
- View sourceBX1corroborating· bx1.be· 24 August 2026Retrieved 26 August 2026· 39 days ago· Dated
- View sourceBRUZZcorroborating· bruzz.be· 24 August 2026Retrieved 26 August 2026· 39 days ago· Dated
- View sourceSTIB-MIVB press roomofficial· stib.prezly.com· 2 December 2025Retrieved 26 August 2026· 304 days ago· Dated
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This briefing was prepared with AI assistance and reviewed by a Belgium Impulse editor before publication. methodology.