Vlaams Belang requests the resignation of State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor (CD&V). The party therefore follows the position of Bernard Clerfayt (DéFI), the (title-bearing) mayor of Schaarbeek. “The attack could have been prevented if the Muslim terrorist who had exhausted all legal remedies had really had to leave the country,” say Tom Van Grieken and Barbara Pas.
LOOK. Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) provides more information about the terrorist act in Brussels
The party chairman and the parliamentary faction leader point out that “no one knows how many illegal immigrants with terrorist motives are still walking around in our country due to the Moor’s policy.” “If the State Secretary still has an ounce of responsibility, she will hand in her resignation today,” the statement said.
The 45-year-old Tunisian who shot dead two Swedish football supporters yesterday was ordered to leave the country in 2021. For Vlaams Belang, State Secretary De Moor’s claim that the Immigration Office (DVZ) has done everything possible to get him out of the country is incorrect. “Since she took office, De Moor has refused to actively track down and deport illegal immigrants. The fact that the man was never arrested by the police is entirely due to their unwillingness to implement a thorough deportation policy. De Moor turns the tables,” says Pas.
Clerfayt: “Lack of intelligence”
Mayor Clerfayt (DéFI) also contradicts De Moor’s statement. According to him, the whereabouts of Abdesalem Lassoued were known to the Immigration Department, but they never reported it to the city or local police. The terrorist is even said to have provided an address in Schaerbeek to the Immigration Department.
Clerfayt therefore accuses the federal government of “a lack of intelligence and management” regarding the foreigners present in Belgium. “We hear that this gentleman has a school-age daughter. Why didn’t the DVZ register her together with her father?
Lassoued also appeared to be involved in an incident in a mosque. “If a dangerous person does something like this, the competent state security services must be aware of it. Or maybe they don’t have the resources for it?” he sounds annoyed. De Moor must also resign for Clerfayt.
Opposition party N-VA also leaves many questions. MP Yngvild Ingels wonders why vigilance has not been increased in recent days “while there were clear indications that there was an additional threat”.
Why does something bad always have to happen before people increase their vigilance?
“After the attacks in Brussels and Zaventem in 2016, our capital is once again shocked by a brutal terrorist attack,” said Ingels. “I want to know how this could have happened. The man was apparently known to the police and yet he was able to strike. Incomprehensible. Why does something bad always have to happen before one increases vigilance?”
The MP also recalls the recommendations of the investigative committee that looked into the 2016 attacks. “We were asked several times to set up a committee to monitor the implementation of these measures, but this government did not consider this necessary,” the MP said. It.
Further research is also required for Flemish Prime Minister Jan Jambon (N-VA), also into similar profiles. “That man was apparently known to the security services,” says Jambon. “I think we should check that carefully, maybe there are still such types walking around freely.”
LOOK. “It is essential that those people who are refused do not disappear from the radar,” says State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor at the Security Council press conference
MR wants to deploy the army in “strategic places”
Also majority party MR asks questions and calls for a number of measures. The French-speaking liberals ask that the army be deployed to strategic places in the country in order to “free up time and resources for the police”.
The MR also insists on an increased police presence around schools, daycare centers and other sensitive places. The party also wants an immediate inventory of radicalized people who have already been ordered to leave the country. Afterwards they must also be effectively deported, “without delay”.
The party also insists on including the condoning of terrorism in the criminal law. In this way, incitement to hatred and propaganda must be combated. In addition, the party advocates a ban on “meetings and manifestations that pose even the slightest risk of a terrorist group”.
De Croo: “I still ask myself questions”
“I still ask myself questions.” That is the answer from Prime Minister De Croo (Open Vld) when asked how the man was able to walk around in Belgium, despite the fact that he had been ordered to leave the territory. According to De Croo, the National Security Council must provide an answer to this. The Prime Minister wants to have all the data before drawing conclusions.
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