Belgium will deny asylum requests

The Belgian embassy told politicians in southern Serbia that their government will deny asylum to all Serbian citizens who submitted a request this year. The only ethnic Albanian MP in the Serbian parliament Riza Halimi said that ambassador Denise de Hauwere told him that according to the readmissions agreement, Belgium will deny all asylum requests from Serbian citizens and return them to Serbia after three months. Belgium will deny asylum requests She said that there are no conditions for receiving political asylum and that approving economic asylum has not been envisaged, according to Halimi. “The ambassador said that she will visit Presevo and Bujanovac next week, along with some members of the Belgian government, and that she will be talking with local officials, but also said that Belgium is not able to accept asylum seekers, and that people should not allowing themselves to be manipulated,” Halimi said. He added that “in Presevo and Bujanovac, people heard that it is easier to find work in Belgium than in other countries of the European Union, which created a psychology of the masses that it would be easiest to gain asylum in this country.” Halimi said that the Belgian government has identified three bus companies driving mainly those seeking asylum, none of which are from Presevo or Bujanovac. “We have cases in which people were visiting relatives in EU countries for two-three weeks and returned, that is normal, but there are also cases where people spend a lot of money hoping to receive asylum in an EU country, and all of them will have to return in three months at the latest,” Halimi said. He said that according to rough estimates, some 5,000 to 10,000 people from southern Serbia have tried their luck at seeking asylum in the EU. The Belgian embassy stated that in February alone, over 300 people from Serbia, mostly ethnic Albanians from Presevo and Bujanovac, requested asylum in Belgium. Riza Halimi (FoNet, file)

Belgium will deny asylum requests

She said that there are no conditions for receiving political asylum and that approving economic asylum has not been envisaged, according to Halimi.

“The ambassador said that she will visit Preševo and Bujanovac next week, along with some members of the Belgian government, and that she will be talking with local officials, but also said that Belgium is not able to accept asylum seekers, and that people should not allowing themselves to be manipulated,” Halimi said.

He added that “in Preševo and Bujanovac, people heard that it is easier to find work in Belgium than in other countries of the European Union, which created a psychology of the masses that it would be easiest to gain asylum in this country.”

Halimi said that the Belgian government has identified three bus companies driving mainly those seeking asylum, none of which are from Preševo or Bujanovac.

“We have cases in which people were visiting relatives in EU countries for two-three weeks and returned, that is normal, but there are also cases where people spend a lot of money hoping to receive asylum in an EU country, and all of them will have to return in three months at the latest,” Halimi said.

He said that according to rough estimates, some 5,000 to 10,000 people from southern Serbia have tried their luck at seeking asylum in the EU.

The Belgian embassy stated that in February alone, over 300 people from Serbia, mostly ethnic Albanians from Preševo and Bujanovac, requested asylum in Belgium.