Belgium’s equal opportunities centre Unia has filed a judicial complaint with the public prosecutor's office against the city council of the East Flemish town of Aalter. The organisation suspects that the approach to the registering of the domicile of non-Belgians of Mayor Pieter De Crem (Christian democrat CD&V) is discriminatory and in breach of anti-racism legislation. Investigations by VRT’s Pano programme and daily De Morgen revealed that in Aalter non-Belgians have to wait much longer for registration than Belgians.
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Expats’ domicile delayed: equal opportunities centre Unia files complaint against Aalter
Colin Clapson
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Following the news the East Flanders public prosecutor's office opened an investigation at the end of March. It is investigating whether Mayor De Crem's administration has committed violations of the anti-racism law.
Unia is now also registering as an aggrieved party in this case and is filing a complaint. After its own analysis of the practices the equal opportunities centre believes there may have been discrimination based on national or ethnic origin and violations of the anti-racism law.
9 times longer to wait
An investigation by Pano and De Morgen revealed how in Aalter non-Belgians have to wait an average of 9 times longer than Belgians before being registered in the municipality. This is because in the case of non-Belgians, the municipality more frequently requests an inspection of the quality of the housing and this sometimes takes months. During that waiting period, people are not officially granted their domicile in Aalter, not even provisionally, and that results in numerous practical problems.
"There does appear to be a clear pattern," says Unia director Els Keytsman. "Some people who register in Aalter are welcome, others are suspect. And that is based on their surname."
"So we suspect unequal treatment. If it is true that the city cabinet has asked the administration to delay those applications with a residence check, then this is no longer about an administrative issue, it is criminal discrimination."