Belgium will begin so-called “entry checks” on bus, train, car, and air traffic this summer. This is to reduce illegal migration, says Minister of Asylum and Migration Anneleen Van Bossuyt to broadcaster VRT.
According to Van Bossuyt, the checks are primarily aimed at people without a valid residence permit and people who have already submitted an application in another member state.
“Article 23 of Schengen allows you to carry out these tightened checks within your territory. We are now going to make use of that,” she says. Van Bossuyt is a member of the N-VA, the party of Prime Minister Bart De Wever.
Checks will take place at locations including parking lots along the highway and on international bus and train traffic. Some flights within the Schengen area will also be subject to extra checks. The minister refers to flights from countries including Greece and Italy, countries where many migrants arrive.
Van Bossuyt says she will start the checks this summer. According to her, the summer is a period “in which a great deal of migration takes place. We want to counteract that massive influx.”
Opposition fears chaos and queues
The opposition fears that the extra checks will mainly create chaos. A member of parliament from the Groen party calls it “unrealistic, inflated talk” and fears hours of traffic jams and queues at the airport.
The Netherlands has been carrying out extra checks at its internal borders since December last year. In the first half year of these border checks, 80,000 people were checked, wrote outgoing asylum minister David van Weel (VVD) earlier this month in a letter to parliament. Germany has also been carrying out extra border controls since last autumn.