Belgian MPs approved a new immigration law on Friday, 6 November, allowing immigration officials to seek judicial authorisation for police to enter homes — without residents’ consent — between 5:00am and 9:00pm to detain people who have been ordered to leave the country, according to The Guardian, reported by The News International. The power extends to properties where the person is staying with friends or relatives, and is expected to take effect next spring.
The government says the measure targets people whose asylum applications have been rejected, who have ignored deportation orders, or who are considered public-security threats. Human rights groups have criticised the law; Carine Thibaut of Amnesty International Belgium called it “a law of fear” that “really disseminates fear,” and commentators have drawn comparisons with enforcement tactics used by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
For long-term foreign residents in Belgium — including those with pending asylum claims or deportation orders against them — the new power is a real change in enforcement reach once it takes effect, not yet in force. It does not apply to people who are legally resident or have no deportation order against them.
