Risk when government dances on borderline of rights respect

Risk when government dances on borderline of rights respect

The federal government “may be objectively criticized for dancing on the borderline when it comes to respecting” fundamental rights; “now, dancing on this borderline involves the risk that the irreparable happen, writes Thursday the liberal philosopher François de Smet, director of the federal center Migration Myria, in a new plea for the opening of additional legal migration channels. “Yes,’’ the government “may be objectively criticized for dancing on the borderline when it comes to respecting these rights, as it constantly favors a certain idea of efficiency to the detriment of caution (like when one chooses to expel Sudanese, to avoid a mini-Calais, without verifying enough the risks of bad treatment in case of return),’’ he underlines.

Ministers regularly claim the “vacuum’’ which overly tolerant politicians would create. The federal government defends firm but humane politics. However, “if a trafficking market can always prosper from the fruit of war, based on misery or a desire for a better life, it is mainly because the largest vacuum lies in the difference of peace environment, standards of living and the possibility to fulfill one’s aspirations between human beings,’’ replies François De Smet.

Prime-Minister Charles Michel appeals regularly for a reinforcement of control at European borders. Minister of Internal Affairs Jan Jambon and State Secretary for the budget, migration and asylum policy Theo Francken communicate assiduously on scaling up police control and increasing the capacities of closed centers.

But “this cannot be solved simply by more borders, police and closed centers, because by definition, this competition will erect ever-higher secure barriers against increasingly determined migrants, encouraged by ever greedier smugglers, thinks Myria’s director. The latter calls once more for “the opening of additional legal and safe migration channels” and for “a more decisive action on the causes of migration.” In a statement, Human Rights Leagues, Flemish and Francophone, also request that the government open “safe and legal way of access for the migrants.”

Furthermore, Myria’s director also requests an intensification of the fight against smugglers, as “Belgium is a key place for trafficking,” Kurdish in particular. On this subject, he pleads for improved collaboration with the victims. In the case of little Mawda, François De Smet joins those who say they are “legitimately troubled” to note that the migrants were not oriented towards the statute of victims and that the presumed perpetrators were freed. Myria should file a civil action in this affair.


The Brussels Times


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