01 April 2016

Belgium to require immigrants to sign up to 'European values'

Non-EU migrants and refugees wishing to live in Belgium will have to sign a statement declaring their acceptance of local values or see their residency claim rejected, a government official said, in a move campaigners fear will fuel anti-immigrant sentiment.

Parliament is expected to pass the proposal to introduce a “newcomers’ statement” in the next few months, according to a spokesman for Belgium’s secretary of state for asylum and migration, Theo Francken, who drafted the plan.

People moving to Belgium for more than three months would have to sign the statement which includes a pledge to prevent and report any attempts to commit “acts of terrorism”. [The Guardian] Read more