For the first time, the Immigration Office is training its own staff to escort people staying in Belgium illegally during forced returns.
Until now, this role had been carried out exclusively by the aviation police.
Fourteen trainees started the programme on Monday at the PAULO police school in East Flanders.
By training its own escort officers, the federal government hopes to increase the number of forced return operations and cut waiting times.
According to the office of Asylum and Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt, deportations can currently be delayed by more than a month because there are not enough escorts available.
The government wants to reduce that delay to 10 days. It also says the measure should help free up places in closed detention centres more quickly and ease pressure on prisons.
The 14 staff members are receiving training in the legal and ethical framework for the work, as well as communication, de-escalation, physical and mental preparation, and the management of violence.
They will then undergo specialised training with the aviation police, including a practical placement and participation in removal operations.
Only candidates who complete the full programme successfully will be deployed in the field.
Minister Van Bossuyt attended the first training sessions on Monday and took part in some of the physical tests.
