Campaign launched to debunk fake news on change in collective regularisation policy

Campaign launched to debunk fake news on change in collective regularisation policy
Credit: Belga

A campaign will be launched on Facebook by State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Sammy Mahdi to debunk the fake news that there will be a change to Belgium's collective regularisation policy.

Mahdi wants to stress that no changes have been made in light of the end of the action by more than 400 undocumented migrants who were on a hunger strike for over two months, which resulted in some people spreading rumours that the collective regularisation policy was changed.

"Fake news circulates quickly, especially if people draw false hope from it. It is important to bring a quick and clear message that the regularisation policy will not change," Mahdi said in a press release for the campaign.

He added that he regrets the calls circulating on the social media platform urging people to go to the neutral zone, which the government set up to mitigate the hunger migrants' situation when it was deteriorating, to take action.

The neutral zone situated not far from the Beguinage church in central Brussels, where some 200 of the undocumented migrants were protesting, was closed to all people but the hunger strikers last Friday after an influx of other asylum-seekers came to the location hoping that their cases would be dealt with.

In the campaign message, Mahdi stressed that all pending applications will be treated as soon as possible, and the civil society organisations and the bar associations have also been briefed so they can correctly inform people who believe they are more likely to be regularised.

The campaign will run via the FPS Home Affairs Facebook page.


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