Asylum seekers and refugees in Belgium
Recent stories
Amnesty International concerned about police violence and other abuses
In its observations on Belgium's human rights record, the Human Rights Committee has expressed dismay about the continuing reports of police brutality, often accompanied by acts of racial discrimination.
2 August 2004 (137 words)
Vlaams Blok drops hotline plans
After ministers attacked the party for opening a hotline in Antwerp, inviting citizens to denounce suspected illegal immigrants, the Vlaams Blok (VB) dropped its plans.
20 May 2004 (75 words)
Semira Adamu deportation death: four police officers convicted
On 12 December 2003, a Brussels court found four Belgian police officers guilty of assault, battery and negligence in the case of Semira Adamu who died during a forced deportation in 1998.
13 December 2003 (269 words)
Integration plan to be updated
The Flemish welfare minister Mieke Vogels has announced that the 1996 integration plan, which was aimed at the integration of Moroccans and Turks, will be updated by June 2004 to reflect the fact that immigrant communities, made up of 186 nationalities, are highly diverse.
28 October 2003 (81 words)
Deportation methods criticised
The Council of Europe's Committee on Torture has criticised Belgium for using cruel and degrading methods to expel illegal immigrants while noting that life-threatening procedures like the 'cushion technique' have been abandoned.
24 October 2002 (39 words)
More staff for detention centres promised
In October, after a 24-hour strike by employees in protest at lack of investment at the centres, interior minister Antoine Duquesne agreed to recruit more staff for the Merksplas centre, Antwerp and Steenokkerzeel on the Flemish border.
22 October 2002 (70 words)
Child deportee left stranded in Congo
Tabita Mubilanzila flew from the Congo to Belgium in August, accompanied by her uncle, who was to take her on to Canada to be reunited with her mother who is recognised there as a political refugee.
21 October 2002 (128 words)
Brussels: Operation Xénon
Responding to claims of a heightened feeling of insecurity, police from three Brussels communes launched a large-scale operation in October against 'illegal workers', mainly from eastern Europe, around the Garre du Midi.
17 October 2002 (63 words)
Federal agency sees business opportunities in reception centres
Bob Pleysier, the head of Belgium's newly-created Federal Asylum-Seeker Reception Agency says that reception centres should be taken out of the political arena to be run like businesses, with supple management and flexible policies.
22 August 2002 (139 words)
Congo musicians detained
There was uproar in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa and anger among Belgian fans of the 30-strong soukous band Wenge Musica, when eight of its musicians were detained in closed refugee centres at Vottem and Bruges.
22 August 2002 (90 words)
Human rights groups attack asylum system
Four human rights organisations have criticised the government for its failure to keep its promise, made three years ago, to reform the asylum procedure.
18 July 2002 (75 words)
Scandal of missing children exposed
The Bulletin reports that some 400 children - all unaccompanied asylum seekers from Africa, China, and Kosovo - have gone missing.
6 June 2002 (85 words)
Semira Adamu: Gendarmes will stand trial
In March, a Brussels court ruled that five gendarmes should stand trial in connection with the death in September 1998, of Semira Adamu, a 20-year-old rejected asylum seeker from Nigeria, within hours of an attempt to deport her forcibly from Brussels-National airport.
1 June 2002 (108 words)
More reports of ill-treatment during forced deportation
AI has documented further cases of ill-treatment during forced deportation and called on Belgium and other European states to re-examine legislation and practice to ensure that forcible deportations are brought in line with recommendations on the protection of human rights during expulsion issued by Council of Europe bodies.
1 June 2002 (336 words)
Provincial communes undermine government dispersal policy
Many provincial communes are evading their obligation to accommodate asylum seekers by sending them to cities, despite the government policy of dispersing asylum seekers around the country.
24 May 2002 (269 words)
Roma deportations violated European Convention
In February, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that, in deporting dozens of Slovak Roma in 1999, Belgium violated articles of the European Convention of Human Rights guaranteeing the right to liberty and security and the right to appeal, and a protocol prohibiting collective expulsions.
5 February 2002 (195 words)
Deportation police once again accused
Amnesty International (AI) is asking for a full investigation into the alleged ill-treatment during a deportation attempt of Ibrahim Bah, an asylum seeker from Sierra Leone.
1 January 2002 (87 words)
The death of Semira Adamu - justice delayed?
AI reports that nearly three after the opening of a judicial investigation into the death of Semira Adamu, its findings are still unknown and no one has as yet been brought to justice.
1 October 2001 (131 words)
Ukrainians also subjected to mass deportation
In February, 25 asylum seekers were deported from Melsbroek military airport under heavy police escort to the Ukraine.
1 October 2001 (27 words)
Mass deportations of Kazakh asylum seekers
On January 6, amid protests and condemnations, 33 asylum seekers from Kazakhstan were deported from Melsbroek airport.
1 October 2001 (138 words)
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