Why the N-VA is choosing the Australian asylum model: N-VA MPs are launching an information campaign

“The European asylum model is failing. The Belgian and European leadership is ineffective. It cannot go on like this,” says N-VA MP and migration expert Theo Francken. He is supported by Assita Kanko, Yoleen Van Camp, Darya Safai and Maaike De Vreese. The N-VA members are launching an information campaign in which they argue for the Australian model.

Last weekend, 130 people drowned off the coast of Libya, and yesterday, 17 boat migrants were found dead on a boat in the Canary Islands. Even in the coronavirus year 2020, there was a record number of smuggling boats heading for England and a persistent nuisance from illegal immigrants in Brussels and Zeebrugge, the stowaways in motorway car parks remained a daily occurrence, and we saw inhumane conditions and arson in the reception centres at the external European borders.

Fighting a losing battle

The N-VA does not believe in the European asylum model, Theo Francken explains. “The introduction of the announced European Migration Pact will not bring about any fundamental change, either. After all, as long as the European right of residence is granted after an illegal journey, we will keep fighting a losing battle.”

Assita Kanko: “It is time for a real plan against illegal migration”

“It is high time that a real plan is put in place to significantly reduce illegal migration, the drownings and human trafficking. The current European asylum system does not do that; on the contrary, it encourages human trafficking,” MEP Assita Kanko says.

Yoleen Van Camp: “The Australian asylum model is fairer”

The N-VA is choosing a different model, a fairer model, according to MP Yoleen Van Camp. “We are choosing the Australian asylum model. Australia had the exact same problem of illegal migration, but was able to solve it efficiently. The key to their solution lay in no longer granting residency rights to, and thus rewarding, people who entered Australia illegally. The right to asylum was always guaranteed, but the right to reside on Australian territory was lost. Europe must develop a similar system.”

Darya Safai: “Don’t turn a blind eye to victims of persecution”

“That does not mean that we turn a blind eye to the victims of persecution worldwide,” MP Darya Safai explains. “We will continue to protect them through a system of asylum quotas. Only genuine refugees are eligible and can be granted the right of residence. If you try it illegally, you will lose any right to reside in the EU, also in the future. This is how Australia solved the problem of illegal migration in the short term.”

Maaike De Vreese: “Humane reception in the region is the objective”

The situation in the refugee camps is also often dire, Flemish MP Maaike De Vreese says. “We must not turn a blind eye to that, either. The UN Refugee Agency deserves the support of the West. The objective must be decent shelter in the region of the conflicts, not to undertake dangerous travel for thousands of kilometres towards an El Dorado that does not exist. With the same budget, we can achieve ten times more there.”

Information campaign and resolution on the Australian asylum model
To reinforce their message, and to answer questions and clear up misunderstandings, elected N-VA members are launching an information campaign on social media. “But it doesn’t stop there. We will also be submitting a resolution to the House that advocates the introduction of the Australian asylum model and thus also bringing the debate to parliament,” Theo Francken concludes.