Belgium announces border checks in migration clampdown
BRUSSELS: Belgium will introduce border checks on people coming into the country to clamp down on illegal migration, the government said, in another limit on free movement across Europe's Schengen zone.
The restrictions in the country that borders the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg and Germany will start this summer, a spokesperson for the junior minister for migration, Anneleen Van Bossuyt, said on Friday.
'Time for entry controls. Belgium must not be a magnet for those stopped elsewhere. Our message is clear: Belgium will no longer tolerate illegal migration and asylum shopping,' Van Bossuyt wrote on X.
The announcement follows similar moves by the Netherlands and Germany, part of a broader crackdown on migration across the continent, even as numbers of arrivals on many major routes have shown signs of falling.
'The checks will be carried out in a targeted manner on major access roads such as motorway car parks, on bus traffic ... on certain trains ... and on intra-Schengen flights from countries with high migration pressure, such as Greece and Italy,' a Belgian government statement said late on Thursday.
Prime Minister Bart De Wever, in office since February, has said curbing migration is a key priority for his right-leaning government.
Belgium is part of the open-border Schengen area which guarantees free travel between its 29 member states. Under article 23 of the Schengen Borders Code, members can temporarily reinstate border checks in response to security or migration pressures.
A spokesperson for the Belgian Immigration Office said it was difficult to give figures for illegal immigration at the moment without the systematic border checks.
Belgium, one of the world's richest countries, received 39,615 asylum applications in 2024, 11.6 percent more than in 2023, numbers from the Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers show.
The country had the capacity to take in 35,600 applicants in 2024, according to the figures, leaving many arrivals without proper accommodation.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
8 hours ago
- Arab News
US to move third aircraft carrier closer to Mideast conflict
WASHINGTON: The USS Gerald R. Ford will depart for Europe next week, a Navy official said Friday, placing a third American aircraft carrier in closer proximity to the Middle East as Israel and Iran trade strikes. Israel launched an unprecedented air campaign against Iran last week, and US President Donald Trump has said he is weighing whether to join Israel in the fight. 'The Gerald Ford carrier strike group will depart Norfolk (Virginia) the morning of June 24 for a regularly scheduled deployment to the US European Command area of responsibility,' the Navy official said. The US Carl Vinson carrier strike group has been operating in the Middle East since earlier this year, taking part in an air campaign against Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels. And a US defense official has confirmed that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth ordered the Nimitz carrier strike group to the Middle East, saying it was 'to sustain our defensive posture and safeguard American personnel.' Trump said Thursday he will decide whether to join Israel's strikes on Iran within the next two weeks, citing a chance of negotiations to end the conflict. That deadline comes after a tense few days in which the US president publicly mulled hitting Iran and said that Tehran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was an 'easy target.' Trump had spent weeks pursuing a diplomatic path toward a deal to replace the nuclear deal with Iran that he tore up in his first term in 2018, but has since backed Israel's attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities and military top brass. A key issue is that the United States is the only country with the huge 'bunker buster' bombs that could destroy Iran's crucial Fordo nuclear enrichment plant. A number of key figures in his 'Make America Great Again' movement have vocally opposed US strikes on Iran, and Trump's promise to extract the United States from its 'forever wars' in the Middle East played a role in his 2016 and 2024 election wins.
Arab News
8 hours ago
- Arab News
EU imposes measures to curb ethanol imports from Pakistan
PARIS: The European Commission has ended tariff preferences for non-fuel ethanol imports from Pakistan, answering EU ethanol makers' calls that a surge in cheap imports from the Asian country was pressuring prices and disturbing markets. Last year, ethanol imports from Pakistan accounted for more than a quarter of all non-fuel ethanol imports, making Pakistan the largest source of imports to the EU, the Commission said in its decision published in the EU's Official Journal on Friday. The rise in total ethanol imports has been lasting for several years with EU customs data showing imports of non-fuel ethanol into the EU nearly doubling between 2021 and 2024 to reach 726,000 metric tons in 2024, from about 376,000 tons in 2021, it said. Of this, Pakistani ethanol imports jumped by almost 300 percent to 393,590 tons between 2021 and 2022 and were still 244 percent above 2021 imports in 2023. Meanwhile, EU non-fuel ethanol output dropped. Last year it was 8 percent lower than in 2021, it said. The data and information available showed a coincidence in time between the evolution of imports from Pakistan and the serious disturbance to Union markets, the Commission said. 'The Commission considers that there is evidence of a serious disturbance in the Union market for non-fuel ethanol, characterised by a significant increase in imports at significantly lower prices compared to Union producers and a decline in Union production,' it said. EU ethanol makers welcomed the move, set to last two years, although they had hoped for three-year duration and said the fact it did not include ethanol used in fuel raised concerns over potential circumvention.
Arab News
8 hours ago
- Arab News
Saudi Shoura Council speaker participates in Rome conference
ROME: The Second Parliamentary Conference on Interreligious Dialogue — titled 'Strengthening Trust and Embracing Hope for our Common Future' — has started in Rome, with the participation of the Saudi delegation headed by Shoura Council Speaker Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Asheikh. The event is being attended by heads of parliaments from around the world. Lorenzo Fontana, the president of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy, praised the body's significant and vital role, stressing the importance of the conference in building bridges and promoting mutual understanding.
