Return - IOM Publications - International Organization for Migration

Return Migration: Policies and Practices
Deportation
1.5 BEST PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED
The government is currently looking into amending the law in regard to deportation. According
to the amendment an appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court would automatically suspend
deportation for an additional five days to give the court time to consider the appeal. In 2002,
Belgium was found to have violated Section 4.e of the European Convention on Human Rights
(prohibiting collective expulsions of aliens) and Sections 5.1 and 5.4 (rights to liberty and security)
by the European Court of Human Rights during the deportation of Slovak Roma asylum seekers
in 1999.
The Belgian authorities deported 70 persons to Slovakia after these had been summoned to the
police station and spontaneously detained and forcibly returned without the possibility of even
obtaining information on their right to lodge an appeal. Belgium had to pay costs and damages
(EUR 19,000) to the families, who brought the case before the court. Other actions for damages
are expected.
Reduction of Social Benefits as a Means of Hampering Asylum Abuse
Until 2001, social benefits (minimum income, paid in cash) were distributed to asylum claimants
through reception centres organized by the Federal Ministry of Social Welfare or by NGOs
such as the Red Cross. These benefits were provided to asylum claimants with no other residence
status in Belgium, pending the examination of the admissibility of their claim. Benefits
for all other asylum claimants were provided through welfare bureaux at a local level.
The provision of social benefits in cash was considered by the Belgian authorities to be one of
the factors attracting asylum applicants to Belgium (it was believed that cash benefits were often
used to reimburse smugglers). The increase in overall numbers of asylum seekers had the consequential
effect of increasing the numbers of people to be removed after an unsuccessful application
for asylum had been made. Therefore, the government decided in 2001 to offer only
assistance, in kind, in reception centres. Moreover, asylum seekers who have introduced a petition
for judicial review to the Council of State and who are – as a result of a decision of the
constitutional Court of Arbitration 10 – eligible to further benefit social assistance, will be able to
obtain these benefits only in centres designated by the federal government. In general, social
welfare benefits are not available to people residing in irregular situations in Belgium.
Fingerprinting
Belgium fingerprints all foreign nationals who cannot be identified. The Belgian authorities
consider that fingerprinting is a valuable tool to establish a foreigner’s identity and to detect
possible repeat asylum claims in Belgium. Yet, the system is limited through the absence of a
European integrated identification device, which would enable the Belgians to check whether
foreign nationals have made asylum applications or applications for status in other countries.
The Belgian government authorities believe that Eurodac (i.e. the EU’s system for the comparison
of fingerprints of asylum applicants and illegal migrants) will not completely solve this
problem.
46