The Belgian Minister of Asylum and Migration is considering "every possible solution" to increase the number of illegal migrants being expelled from Belgium, including renting space in prisons abroad to house foreign prisoners.
In an interview with Brussels-based Euronews, Anneline Van Bossijt said that Belgium wants to house foreign prisoners abroad as part of its anti-migration measures and is open to partnerships with countries in the Western Balkans and beyond.
Recently, the Belgian minister was in Albania and Kosovo to explore possibilities for renting space in prisons to house illegal migrants convicted of crimes in Belgium.
"We are considering every possible solution to increase the return rate. That is one of the options we are considering with the Ministry of Justice," Van Bossijt said.
She explained that the goal of the talks with Albania was to house that country's citizens who are in Belgian prisons, while in Kosovo the Belgian government wants to house "people who are illegally residing in Belgium and who are in its prisons" regardless of nationality.
Euronews recalls that the Danish government is already testing such a plan by sending foreigners who have been ordered to leave the country to Kosovo to serve their sentences and then, as expected, be returned to their countries of origin.
As the Brussels portal writes, the Western Balkans have proven to be a region that needs to be explored for, as the EU describes it, "innovative solutions" to migration.
Italy already opened its first migrant detention centers in Albania last year, but there are legal concerns about them and they have been criticized by human rights defenders.
Van Bossijt stressed that Belgium is open to exploring partnerships outside the Western Balkans.
"We were there (in Albania and Kosovo), talked to the relevant ministers, but there may be other possibilities or countries," the minister said. "But it is important to see where we can count on such a solution," she added.
When asked whether the government would consider similar solutions for migrants who are illegally staying in Belgium and have not been convicted of crimes, Van Bossijt said that Belgium could explore the possibilities of a new EU agreement that would allow member states to send migrants to so-called "return centers" in countries outside the EU.
The proposal, which is part of an EU effort to speed up the return of illegal migrants, could see people whose asylum claims have been rejected returned to centres in countries they have no ties to but which the EU considers safe.
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