The Flemish Employment Minister Zuhal Demir (nationalist) has said that she is going to refuse to issue work permits to a further 3 Turkish imams. Ms Demir was responding to a question put to her by her party colleague Katrien Houtmeyers in the Flemish Parliament.
Flemish Employment Minister refuses to issue work permits to another three imams
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On Monday it was reported that Ms Demir had refused to issue work permits to 5 imams, all of whom Turkish, as they were being paid by a foreign government.
Since May migrant workers are banned from working in paid employment for foreign governments. The 5 imans whose application for a work permit was refused were the first to be impacted by the new rule.
"Turkish government officials”
Speaking on Wednesday, Ms Demir said that "We should be clear: imams sent and paid by Turkey are simply Turkish government officials. They monitor the comings and goings of Belgians of Turkish descent as we saw in the aftermath of the failed coup in Turkey in 2016. As such they are downright dangerous and often they preach inflammatory talk”.’
“Therefore, I can inform you that today I will also be rejecting 3 more applications for work permits. More specifically, these are work permits applied for by 2 imans in Genk and 1 in Heusden-Zolder.”
A further two work permits that will also not be renewed will expire next month. “From then on, no imam will be able to work in the country if they are in the pay of a foreign government”, Ms Demir said.