If Flemish Integration Minister Bart Somers has his way, candidates for family reunification will be able to complete their social orientation course in their countries of origin before boarding a plane bound for Belgium.
Somers told the Flemish Parliament on Tuesday that he had invited 20 mayors to help shape a pilot project that would provide the would-be migrants with just such an opportunity.
The Open VLD minister was responding to a question from parliamentarian Maaike De Vreese (Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie, N-VA) about his plans to start the integration process in candidates' countries of origin.
Pilot projects will be voluntary
The N-VA has been pressing for this for some time now, and at a recent party congress, the Open VLD also stated that it wished to provide social-integration training for candidates for family and marital migration.
Somers made it clear that, as a Flemish government minister, he cannot force people who want to come and live in Belgium to take a course before they can enter the territory. That power is federal and may become the subject of government negotiations in 2024.
“What I can do is set up pilot projects on a voluntary basis,” Somers said.
The liberal minister is planning pilot projects before the end of this legislature, particularly for family reunification candidates, who would be given the opportunity to follow a social orientation course in their country of origin.
"The newcomer then knows in advance that he is going to a society where men and women are equal"
According to Somers, this way of working with the newcomers also clarifies the context in which they want to migrate. “The newcomer then knows in advance where he stands and that he is going to a society where men and women are equal, where there is freedom of speech and where homosexuality is a normal thing,” Somers explained.
The Open VLD minister has already invited the mayors of the 20 cities with the largest number of non-EU migrants to help mount the pilot project.
“After all, this story starts with our cities and towns. They are often the first to know about applications for family reunification," the minister explained. "As soon as they pass on this information to our integration agencies, the persons in question can be invited to start their integration process in their country of origin."
A "win-win for everyone"
"To ensure that this runs smoothly, we are working on a digital version of our social orientation course with which the person integrating can get started,” Somers said, adding that the digital package is to be ready by the end of March 2023.
N-VA's De Vreese responded that she had been asking, “since the beginning of this legislature, to start the integration process in the countries of origin wherever possible, following the Dutch example.” This is a “win-win for both the newcomer and the Flemish host community,” she said.
“These pilot projects are already a first step in the right direction. We should also involve the private sector because this is also interesting for migrant workers. Mastering our language and knowing and respecting our values and norms are indispensable,” De Vreese stressed.
