What about single male asylum seekers? “Prime Minister cannot answer a simple yes-no question” | Domestic

At the end of August, De Moor sent out an instruction not to provide shelter for single male asylum seekers for the time being. There had been a shortage of places at the federal reception agency Fedasil for months due to the large influx of asylum seekers in almost all of Western Europe.

However, the instruction went wrong with the green coalition partners, especially after the Council of State annulled the instruction. De Croo adjusted the communication after a nuclear cabinet meeting and emphasized that the government is “doing everything it can to respect the law”. The government subsequently approved a Winter Plan and started looking for additional places.

During the budget debate in Parliament, Dieter Van Besien (Green) briefly returned to the fact that “government policy has changed”. N-VA member Theo Francken and Vlaams Belang faction leader Barbara Pas then wanted to know from De Croo whether the instruction had actually been withdrawn.

The latter only emphasized that the government’s policy is to “ensure that there is enough space for everyone”. The opposition was not satisfied with that. De Roover spoke of an “embarrassing situation” for the government because the prime minister “cannot answer a simple yes-no question”.

According to CD&V faction leader Servais Verherstraeten, the government’s ambition is “to comply with international obligations”. But at the same time, the judgment of the Council of State does not create any additional places, it is said. “She (State Secretary De Moor; ed.) said: my policy will not change, nor will my ambition. Housing everyone if possible and if not, priority goes to families with children. That seems logical to us.”

According to Open Vld MP Egbert Lachaert, the debate belongs in any case in the thematic discussions with the ministers and state secretaries individually. These may be completed sometime during the night. De Roover then concluded that “two coalition partners each say the opposite, the Prime Minister does not answer a yes-no question and another MP from the majority proposes to shift the debate to a moment when no one is paying attention.”