More transmigrants arrested in West Flanders in first half of 2024 than in all of 2023
A total of 375 transmigrants were arrested in West Flanders in the first half of 2024, more than in the whole of 2023, provincial governor Carl Decaluwé said on Thursday.
"There was already an upward trend in the second half of last year and this is continuing now," Decaluwé said. "Although it is not unusual for the numbers to be slightly higher around the summer due to better weather conditions."
The governor said that although there has been an upward trend for some time, the total number of transmigrants apprehended is still much lower than in 2021 and 2022. Nevertheless, the increase is noticeable and Decaluwé attributes it, at least in part, to the UK's migration policy.
"The government had announced that asylum seekers would be sent to Rwanda. That caused an increase," he said. "In the end, the Rwanda plan was scrapped. It remains to be seen what the policy of the new government in the UK will be.
"In any case, it is clear that the pressure is high and has increased in recent times. Additional support from the federal government is of course always welcome."
#FlandersNewsService | © PHOTO SAMEER Al-DOUMY / AFP
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