The Belgian consulate in Istanbul has put at least one hundred residence permits for Turks on hold after signals of fraud. There are intermediaries who brought people to Flanders, supposedly to fill shortage occupations, De Morgen writes today.
The ball is said to have started when a bakery suddenly tried to recruit fifty bakers from Turkey. The job of baker is on the list of shortage professions in Flanders. Since 2019, employers who cannot fill such a vacancy can bring non-EU citizens here to do the job via a ‘combined permit’. Only some seem to abuse this migration channel.
According to political sources, the consulate-general in Istanbul has already put on hold at least 130 permits for Turkish employees in Flanders due to suspicions of permit fraud. Other sources mention more than 700 permits, in all regions.
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These figures are not confirmed, but Federal Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor (CD&V), the FPS Foreign Affairs and Flemish Minister of Work Jo Brouns (CD&V) do acknowledge that an investigation is underway into possible abuse. “Criminal violations are immediately transferred to the public prosecutor’s office,” says Brouns. Some employers are already under judicial investigation.
It is striking that many employees come from the same region in Turkey. In addition, many applications were submitted through the same intermediaries and consultancies. This suggests that there is an organized system to bring family and friends here. “Many Turks who came to Flanders via the single permit previously tried this via other migration channels,” says an insider.
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