US President Donald Trump reportedly plans to deport thousands of undocumented migrants to the US military base in Guantanamo, including European citizens from countries like Belgium, according to several media outlets.
The initiative is expected to start this week, affecting around 9,000 individuals, according to documents seen by Politico.
The Washington Post reports that citizens from various US-allied European countries, such as Belgium, the UK, Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the Netherlands, are affected. Migrants from other regions, including Haiti, are also reportedly targeted by this measure.
According to Het Laatste Nieuws, who contacted The Washington Post, the name of one Belgian appears on the list for deportation to Guantanamo.
Reacting to the reports on Wednesday, Ecolo co-president, Samuel Cogolati, called the alleged plan a "historic regression in human rights" and "an affront to bilateral relations with the United States." He claimed that the US military prison on the island of Cuba is "a lawless zone, a global symbol of torture and detention without trial."
Cogolati's party called on the Belgian government to demand an explanation from the US ambassador and to prevent Belgian citizens from being deported to Guantanamo. "This new Trump project is a test for the credibility of Belgium and the EU," he added.
The US military base, notorious for its prison opened after the 9/11 attacks, is highly controversial. Being located in Cuba, prisoners are not subjected to American law and are not considered prisoners of war, meaning the Geneva Convention does not apply, according to Washington. Human rights organisations have long accused the US of practising torture at the site.
On Wednesday evening, Belgium's Foreign Affairs Minister, Maxime Prévot, announced that Belgium had contacted American authorities to clarify the situation.
Prévot (Les Engagés) added that it is difficult to determine how many Belgians could be affected as the Foreign Affairs Ministry does not have information about Belgians staying abroad unless they report their presence to the relevant embassy or online. Even in these situations, the Ministry does not have information on their residence status in the host country.
"We therefore have no way of knowing how many Belgians are residing illegally abroad," Prévot said. "We only receive this information if a Belgian is arrested by local authorities who then notify us, or if the individual seeks assistance from a Belgian embassy."
Since Trump’s return to power, the Guantanamo base has been used to detain irregular migrants. In January, Trump signed an order to transfer 30,000 exiles there. Since February, roughly 500 people have reportedly been detained.
At the peak of the War on Terror, about 800 individuals were imprisoned at Guantanamo.
Deported migrants are expected to be held in separate facilities from those suspected of terrorism. This practice was also common during Bill Clinton’s presidency in the 1990s when the military dealt with asylum requests from thousands of Cubans and Haitians.
This article was updated on Thursday at 12:23 with additional information.
