Gaudi campaigns are working: number of thefts drops significantly

The Immigration Service and the police organised a Gaudi campaign together for the fourth time from 25 June through 31 July. Once again the goal was to give priority to arresting offenders, such as pickpockets and shoplifters, among illegal immigrants and repatriating them. With the arrest of 557 offending illegal immigrants, this fourth Gaudi campaign was another success. “The campaigns also have a deterrent effect, and not just on illegal immigrants,” says State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Theo Francken.

For example, in the national figures of the federal police a clear decrease can be seen in the number of pickpocketing offences, over 20% in the space of a single year in fact: from 33,313 offences in 2014 to 26,540 in 2015. The decrease in the number of shoplifting offences is smaller, but still significant at 4%: from 21,802 to 20,877 offences.

What is striking is that this decreasing trend can also be seen in the figures of the Immigration Service relating to the number of illegal foreigners who commit thefts. While in 2014 there were 2,924 thieves arrested who were here illegally, that number has gone down significantly this year with 2,343 thieves arrested: a decrease of some 20%.

Resolute approach is working

During the four Gaudi campaigns alone, a total of almost 2,500 people were arrested, 444 of whom were detained in closed centres. Of those offending illegal immigrants, 313 have already been repatriated, while 62 are still awaiting their repatriation. That brings the success rate of that repatriation to some 85%. In addition, 121 illegal immigrants were sent to prison and 128 illegal immigrants were brought before the Public Prosecutor. “As far as the rest are concerned, we are working on active identification with a view to rapid repatriation at a later stage,” the State Secretary says. “By prioritising on the repatriation of illegal immigrants we are now for the first time seeing a significant decrease in so-called petty crime, which in actual practice causes a lot of damage. There used to be a feeling of total impunity among that group: prosecution was not a priority, let alone repatriation.”

“When you know that over a year one person commits several tens of offences, it’s only logical that every offender residing here illegally that we can repatriate brings down the total number of offences substantially. The resolute approach is working,” concludes Theo Francken, who has already announced a fifth Gaudi campaign during the holiday and sales season.