Turks and Syrians who have been affected by the earthquakes and who have Belgian relatives can obtain a temporary visa for Belgium more quickly. Nicole de Moor, the Belgian Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, has announced Saturday. This way they can find temporary shelter with relatives. “Many Belgians have family in the affected regions and would like to help their relatives,” said De Moor. With the accelerated visa procedure, the government is helping Belgian families who want to come to the rescue.
Germany is also strongly pushing for an accelerated visa procedure; Secretary of the Interior Nancy Faeser says requests from affected Turkish and Syrian relatives to be handled ‘unbureaucratically’ and ‘straightforward’. They should be forgiven quickly, be valid for three months and avoid practical difficulties. For example, many victims have lost their passports, it is very difficult for some to get to a German consulate and the visa application office in the city of Gaziantep has been affected. In Syria, the German embassy has been closed for some time.
The Labor Party wants the same arrangement
In the Netherlands has the Labor Party summoned the government also come up with a special arrangement to grant affected Turks and Syrians with Dutch family a visa ‘quickly and easily’. The party also wants to know from State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum and Migration, VVD) what contacts he has with other countries to coordinate visa policy and what steps other countries are taking.
In Turkey, the earthquakes have left at least 1.5 million people homeless. About 1.1 million Turks are staying in tent camps or other temporary shelters.
This article is also part of our live blog: Faster visa Belgium for affected Turkish and Syrian family members, Germany will most likely follow