Vooruit and Groen call the asylum policy of State Secretary De Moor (CD&V) chaos | Domestic

“Belgian migration policy is in chaos today,” said Melissa Depraetere of Vooruit in a chairmen’s debate. Nadia Naji from Groen thought the same. “There is effectively a certain chaos in asylum and migration policy,” she said. “That is not good for human rights or for political beliefs. It reduces support for migration.”

Sammy Mahdi of CD&V stood up for his state secretary. According to him, it should be possible to enter homes for people who have to leave the country. “But Green is the party that prevents that. How can you create support if you cannot send people back?” he asked.

According to Tom Ongena of Open VLD, the theme is approached too negatively. “We must stop always portraying migration in a negative light. Many sectors in our economy rely on migrants. Just think of construction and cleaning helpers.”

According to him, the solution lies in a higher employment rate among migrants. “People have to come to work,” he said. “They should come and contribute and not profit. This means that there must be socio-economic reforms to get more people to work.”

What the four chairmen did agree on is that N-VA and Vlaams Belang will not solve the migration problem with their proposals. “Everyone knows that a ten-year migration freeze is completely unrealistic,” Depraetere said.

But Vlaams Belang’s monster score in Friday’s poll was of course not missed by the chairmen of the traditional parties. “It is a major concern that we will have to find a solution for at the elections,” Naji said.

Nicole de Moor responded briefly to the statements of Depraetere and Naji on Sunday afternoon. “We don’t have to wait until the elections,” she says. “There is a written migration law on the table. Time to take steps now.”