Belgium faces asylum problem after EU visa move
03.03.10 @ 09:25
BRUSSELS - The EU's new visa-free travel regime with three Balkan countries has led to a sudden increase in asylum seekers in Belgium, with the European Commission urging restraint.
The vast majority of the asylum seekers are of ethnic Albanian origin and come by bus (Photo: EUobserver.com)
The number of Macedonian asylum applications to Belgium went up from 200 in all of 2009 to 401 in January and February, following the lifting of visa requirements for Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro at the turn of the year.
The number of Serbian applications also jumped up from 514 in 2009 to 347 in the past two months.
"Some people in these countries make it seem as if it's very easy to get asylum in Belgium. People are saying: 'Go to Belgium. You get a house. You get whatever you want'," Dominique Dehaene, a spokesman for Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme, told EUobserver.
Only recognised asylum seekers are allowed to stay in Belgium and claim a living allowance. Failed applicants are sent back home.
Mr Dehaene said Belgium continues to support visa liberalisation, amid EU plans to extend the new freedoms to Albania, Bosnia and, potentially, Kosovo, in the coming years.
"Visa liberalisation is a good thing. But it has to be used in the right way," he said.
Mr Leterme will on Friday (5 March) meet with Serbian leader Mirko Cvetcovic in Brussels to raise the issue. Serbia on Tuesday promised to launch a media campaign to deter bogus would-be applicants and to look into possible criminal elements in the trend.
Mr Leterme will early next week also visit Macedonia and Kosovo. His spokesman explained the trip had already been planned as part of preparations for Belgium's EU presidency later this year. But the asylum problem "might have speeded things up."
The European Commission on Tuesday for its part urged visa-free countries to set the facts straight with their citizens.
"The vast majority of these applications are out of economic interests and have little chance of success," commission spokesman Michele Cercone said. "This freedom comes with a responsibility."
Several former Soviet countries, including Ukraine, Georgia and Russia itself, are also hoping to get onto the EU visa-free list in the near future. But the Belgian experience may damage popular support in the union for further relaxing controls.
