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Migration secretary frees up €30 million extra for refugee repatriation

15:49 24/05/2016

Belgium's secretary of state for asylum and migration Theo Francken will receive an additional €30 million from the federal government to support the repatriation of asylum seekers to their home countries, writes Het Laatste Nieuws.

The immigration department's repatriation service is to be reinforced with 251 more employees and 114 additional places in the detention centres. Francken will also provide 92 additional staff for the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) and 58 additional staff for the Council for Alian Law Litigation (CCE).

"People sometimes forget that more than half of all asylum applications are denied,” Francken told the newspaper. “Among the 17,999 final decisions made last year were 9,880 refusals. This year, the number of rejected asylum applications will be even higher, which will also increase our return capacity.”

"In the short term, we're aiming for 3,000 final decisions per month, or three times the current amount," he said.

Written by Robyn Boyle