The Mouvement Réformateur (MR) wants the content of the compulsory pathway-to-integration programme strengthened to make sure that fundamental values and freedoms are passed on.
MR Brussels parliamentarian Aline Godfrin, who questioned the minister responsible for integration, Alain Maron (Ecolo) in committee on Thursday, believes the content of the course is still too weak and needs to be beefed up.
The course includes a section devoted to citizenship and one on rights and duties. However, according to the Liberal legislator, the reception offices for new immigrants, BAPA, place more emphasis on access to rights and participation in democratic life than on the transmission of democratic values.
Values she identified as needing more emphasis include the separation between the State and religions, basic freedoms such as the right to divorce, to abortion or to express one's sexual orientation, and the duty to respect rights and freedoms through the law.
The 60-hour information module on rights and duties covers some 15 topics, including social security, access to housing, health, education and the right to vote.
Co-existence and values account for only one-fifteenth of this collective training, based on the module given in Anderlecht. What's more, the content is not the same from one reception office to the next, giving the impression of an à la carte course with much latitude in terms of content.
Godfrin also mentioned lack of control over the training provided.
With almost 40,000 people applying for asylum in 2024, the MR believes it is important to provide a high-quality integration programme that does not "relegate values to second place."
