Of the 142,738 migrants registered in 2021, 40 percent were due to family reunification. A total of 521,040 migrants (of which 271,858 from a non-EU country) entered the country via the family reunification channel over a ten-year period. Almost six in ten cases (58 percent) of family reunification involved non-EU citizens and one in ten cases involved family reunification with recognized asylum seekers.
Vlaams Belang advocates a tightening of the system. “This can be done, among other things, by raising the income condition for bringing a partner from abroad and introducing a mandatory test on the basic knowledge of our values, norms and language for those who want to come to Flanders. The period in which recognized refugees are allowed to bring their family members to the Netherlands almost without any conditions must be drastically shortened. For beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, the system must be suspended,” concludes Barbara Pas.