In 2023, 875 prisoners staying illegally in Belgium were returned directly from prison
During a visit to the prison in Beveren, the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration said that more illegally staying detainees are being sent back directly from prisons, through the work of the return counsellors in the detention facilities.
The Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor and the Minister of Justice Paul Van Tigchelt visited the prison located in Beveren today. On this occasion, Nicole de Moor stressed the key role played by return counsellors to convince illegally staying detainees to cooperate with the Immigration Office in the context of identification and return.
Through their work, a total of 1428 undocumented people were returned when released in 2023. A large proportion of these returns, more precisely 61% of these returns, could be made in 2023 directly from the prison. This represents 875 prisoners for whom a stay in a closed centre was not necessary before return. In 2018, this was 54% of the cases. In addition to this, 180 persons were returned last year after just one night in a closed centre.
The main nationalities returned are Albanians, Moroccans and Romanians.
For further information, please read (in Dutch) the press release from the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration