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BELGIUM
agreement concerns nationals of the agreement-signing countries (Benelux on the one side, and
the country of origin on the other side) and/or third-country nationals, who have entered one of
the Benelux states via another partner state, or who have a regular permit to stay in one of the
Benelux countries. The agreement provides only for forced returns. Voluntary returns are not
regulated by the agreements.
Despite existing readmission agreements, the lack of valid documentation creates a major obstacle
in the return process. Experience has shown that readmission agreements in themselves are not
an efficient means of preventing or minimizing documentation problems. According to the Belgian
authorities, the decisive factor in the readmission process, is the willingness to cooperate of the
Consular representatives of countries of origin in Brussels and/or the policy in the countries of
origin. Sometimes, in case of missing travel documents, a gentleman’s agreement can be negotiated
whereby the authorities would apply the rules of the agreement. Therefore, a change in
consular staff in Brussels may often lead to an improvement or deterioration of the situation
related to documentation by the country concerned.
The EU travel document is used for nationals of countries who have an agreement on their use
with Belgium. The “EU removal document” is currently used for removals to Romania, Albania,
Kosovo and Bulgaria and, on an informal basis, for removals to Nepal and Guinea. It has also
been used in the past for removals to Poland. The Annex 9 removal document is also used
for people who are refused entry by air. However, according to the Belgian authorities, one of
the practical problems in using this document is the identification of the carrier bringing the
person to Belgium. Often, travel and/or identity documents have been destroyed before the
migrant reaches the immigration control checkpoint. To prevent this difficulty, the Federal
Police now checks identity documents at the arrival gates of flights considered potentially
problematic. 6
While the Belgian government has formally adopted a policy not to use financial pressure as a
means of gaining the cooperation of countries of origin, diplomatic channels are often used
successfully to resolve documentation problems.
In March 2001 the Belgian Minister of the Interior and his French counterpart met in the southern
Belgian town of Tournai to sign an agreement on cross-border police and customs cooperation.
This agreement was the result of an incident of September 2000, in which 45 Kosovars
were allegedly “dumped” on Belgian territory by a French police unit. The agreement establishes
a joint police station, initially staffed with about 20 police officers from the two countries,
for the purpose of exchanging information on illegal immigrants. France has already signed
similar agreements with Germany and Spain.
There are no transit agreements between Belgium and relevant transit countries. The transit of
rejected migrants is regulated through existing readmission agreements. A person who has to be
sent to a third country, can transit one of the Member States of the agreement, if this facilitates
the return of the person to the country of destination. Further, transit regulations with countries,
for which there are no readmission agreement, are either based on the Convention of Chicago or
on administrative agreements or Memoranda of Understanding (which are negotiated at the
Belgian level and not on the Benelux level).