On Sunday, MP Peter Luykx (N-VA) called on Belgium to support Christian Asia Babi. Her fate remains uncertain after Pakistan revoked her death sentence for blasphemy. Her acquittal has angered Islamists and there have been calls for the decision to be repealed.
“Asia Babi and her husband must be protected. Belgium can grant them asylum. It would not be the first time that the government has done something like this”, Peter Luykx said on Sunday. The MP also called on Foreign Affairs Minister Didier Reynders to act. He wants the minister to follow the resolution the Chamber voted for in 2017. The aim was to protect religious minorities that could be victims of violence by extremist groups. The time has come for Belgium to “strongly condemn the violence against the Christian minority in Pakistan”, says the nationalist MP.
Peter Luykx also spoke about the actions of State Secretary for Asylum and Immigration Theo Francken. He made a big deal about a number of humanitarian visas given to people from the Far-East belonging to Christian minorities. The N-VA State secretary expressed his empathy for these populations when he spoke in churches attended by representatives in Flanders. His discretionary politics was called into question by a number of political and institutional observers.
Aside from the legitimate interest in these communities and in particular the fate of Asia Babi, the N-VA MP has begun a veritable identity quest just six months before the legislative elections. Theo Francken launched a new campaign on social media against the secularisation of markets and Christmas creches as well as regular operations against Sharia, which still does not exist in Belgium.
The Brussels Times
