What happens to transmigrants when they get stopped in Belgium?

“Where they are taken depends on where they are intercepted,” explains Christiaan De Ridder, deputy chief of west coast police. “People intercepted in the dunes, on the beach or on the street go along with police from the police zone where they are found.”

“If people are spotted at sea, there are two scenarios. Maritime police will first try to divert the boats to French waters. There, they are brought ashore and the French police take over. But if a boat gets into difficulty off our coast, the maritime police intervene and bring the people ashore as quickly as possible.”

“In the case of the 19 migrants off the coast of Klemskerke (De Haan), they were brought ashore in Ostend and were taken to the police station in Zeebrugge."

Who decides their future?

But what happens next? “Then we have to try to identify them. They usually don’t have any ID on them, so we take photographs and fingerprints. Normally we deal with these administrative matters ourselves, but since the ministers’ visit last Thursday, the Belgian immigration department has been helping us.”

"We enter the data into a European database. Perhaps these individuals have already applied for asylum in another country and that’s how we get their details. Or perhaps they have already been registered by the police here and have already been issued with an instruction to leave the country."

“Working conditions aren’t the best,” De Ridder adds. “These people have already been through a lot and have often contracted illnesses, such as scabies.”

Who is released?

Ultimately, the fate of the transmigrants lies in the hands of the immigration department, the DVZ. The immigration department has 24 hours in which to decide what should happen to them. “Identification is crucial; that’s where it all starts,” explains Paulien Blondeel, spokesperson for the immigration department.

"If somebody has a valid residence permit, we let them go. But that is rarely the case with migrants. After all, why would they risk a dangerous crossing if they were allowed to stay here legally?"

If somebody does not have legal residence here, they will be issued with an order to leave the country. "Anyone required to leave the country must, in the first instance, do so of their own accord, but of course that does not always happen. If we see that there is a real risk that somebody will go into hiding or attempt a new crossing yet again, we can decide to detain them in a closed centre. There are six such centres in Belgium."

“From there, we organise a ‘forced return’. Either to the country of origin or to the country where they are already known.’

If a deportation order is made, where are people supposed to go?

Under European legislation, the first country where a refugee applies for asylum and where they provide their fingerprints is responsible for that person. "There is a great deal of secondary migration. If we notice in the system that somebody has applied for asylum in Germany or France, then these countries actually remain responsible for them. Even if their application was not approved there.’

"This is to prevent migrants from travelling from one country to another and applying for asylum everywhere they go. But everything is assessed on a case-by-case basis," Blondeel emphasises. "There is no single, general rule to follow."

Of course, it also has to be possible for people to return to their country of origin under their own steam. What if there are no direct flights? “We will only proceed to a forced return to the country of origin if that is also possible. But in many cases, migrants are already known to the authorities in another European country.”

What if the country of origin is unclear?

“Not everyone cooperates fully with the identification process,” says the immigration department. “That’s logical, of course, because they have no intention of returning. We do try to reason with them as best we can. We advise against making the crossing and try to offer them the perspective on returning to their country of origin.”

“We really need to be certain about who the person is, and the country of origin must also be willing to take them back, as they need to be issued with a travel document. That procedure can take a very long time. We work closely with the embassies. They check fingerprints, national registers or request an interview.”

Is there any point in detaining someone only to release them again?

"Certainly," Blondeel replies emphatically. “As soon as someone is detained for the first time, we start the identification procedure. That gives us important information. If someone comes back a second or third time, then we’ve already made some headway. By then, there may already be a clearer prospect of identification and return.’

The police have a different take on the matter. “That’s a difficult issue," says Christiaan De Ridder of the west coast police. “The administrative procedure places an enormous workload on our staff, in rather thankless situations. Let’s leave it at that.”

So why don’t they apply for asylum here? Blondeel emphasises that every foreign national has the right to apply for asylum here. “But Belgium isn’t the intended final destination for migrants. They’ve sometimes already applied for asylum in another European country. Or they’re convinced that things are better in the United Kingdom.”

How do they react to the police intervening?

Back to the beginning of our story. How do people react when they have to abandon their attempt to cross the English Channel? “Usually they remain calm,” says De Ridder. “They really want to be left alone and get to the United Kingdom as smoothly and quickly as possible.”

“In France, it’s a different story. People there are much more rebellious. I’m afraid that trend might spread. In France, riots and acts of vandalism are even deliberately instigated to lure the police away from the crossing. Fortunately, that’s not the case here yet," says De Ridder.