Council of Ministers approves new asylum and migration measures

The Council of Ministers approved important adaptations to the design for the Mosaic Law on asylum and migration. This solves a number of practical problems out in the field. “We will be lenient towards the vulnerable, but hard on those who try to abuse the system,” says Theo Francken, Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration (N-VA).

One of the measures is to extend the inspection period for family reunification from three to five years, allowing for more control of false relationships and marriages of convenience. From now on, visas for frauds and their family members can also be refused or revoked.

Focus on major criminals
Collective relief is the starting point for asylum seekers in the new relief model. Individual relief will only be reserved for vulnerable groups and persons who have a real chance of being granted a refugee status. From now on, body searches can be carried out at any given moment in the detention centres, though of course not systematically or without apparent reason. This way the government can focus on dealing with the major criminals. “The safety of the personnel, the visitors and the inhabitants of the detention centres is a major priority for me,” Secretary of State Francken concludes.