Belgian parliament to vote on divisive new law allowing police raids on people’s homes, if they are suspected of harbouring an undocumented migrant

by · EUobserver

A Belgian policeman controls a bus at the border between France and Belgium in Adinkerke, Belgium, 25 February 2016. (Source: EPA/LAURENT DUBRULE)

Europe today

Unlock article and share
By Nikolaj Nielsen,
Brussels
,

Belgium is pressing ahead with a new bill allowing police to potentially raid a person’s home suspected of harbouring an undocumented migrant.

Set for a vote next Thursday (4 November) in Belgium’s parliament, the law paves the wave for similar provisions in the EU’s deportation regulation.

Although Belgium abstained in the vote on the EU-level law given internal objections over possible EU deportation facilities abroad, Belgium’s coalition government appears determined to allow authorities to force their way into homes.

The new law, championed by Belgium’s rightwing migration minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt of the N-VA, has triggered widespread criticism.

A spectrum form human rights defenders to Belgian judges have issued multiple warnings that the law would potentially violate constitutional rights of those who host undocumented immigrants.

If a person is suspected of hosting an undocumented migrant deemed a security threat, then the police can enter their home between 5AM and 9PM and search through their documents and personal belongings even if children are present.

To read this story, log in or subscribe

Enjoy access to all articles and 25 years of archives, comment and gift articles. Become a subscriber for as low as €1,75 per week.

Read without limits
Already a subscriber? Login
Unlock article and share

Latest from asylum

EU breaks deadlock on deportation bill by fast-tracking return hubs

EU ‘caving into the floodgates of anti-migrant rhetoric’ warns Human Rights Watch

Latest from Belgium

Ex-EU commissioner Reynders faces new Belgian and Polish scrutiny after EUobserver revelations

[EXCLUSIVE] Leaked WhatsApps between ex-EU commissioner Reynders and senior Belgian spy reveal attempts to bury allegations of his possible Russia ties

Latest from EU Politics

‘Let me die’: tortured migrants and rescue ships face off against EU-sponsored Libyan forces

‘Associate’ or ‘ever-closer association’? Semantics aside, what does that leave the EU-Canada love-in?

Latest from Migration

Egypt media crackdown draws ‘lame’ response from EU Commission

Frontex gets 17,000 extra officers for deportations while human-rights monitoring suffers downgrade

Latest from Europe today

Kursk and Krynky operations were disasters for Ukraine, new casualty figures show (Ukraine Battlefield update, Day 1,709)

Neo-Nazi messages, links to Moscow, and Alice Weidel’s hypocrisy. 13 years of AfD emails have leaked

A Belgian policeman controls a bus at the border between France and Belgium in Adinkerke, Belgium, 25 February 2016. (Source: EPA/LAURENT DUBRULE)

Topics

Author Bio

Nikolaj Nielsen joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.

+ Follow author by email