5 January 2006
BRUSSELS — The 10 stowaways found on a container ship near Antwerp port in December have been refused asylum in Belgium.
The Belgian immigration service said the Africans could not provide sufficient evidence they were at threat in their countries of origin.
The stowaways will therefore not come into consideration for official residence status as a political refugee.
However, the 10 illegal immigrants have lodged appeals against the decision, public broadcaster VRT reported on Thursday.
If the Commissionership-General for Refugees and the Stateless also refuses to grant them asylum, the stowaways will be forced to return to Africa.
Then eight Nigerians and two Liberians were found in the freezing cold of container ship’s rudder room near the Kallo lock on 21 December. They were lightly clothed and suffering from hypothermia.
Having barely had food and fresh water in almost two weeks, authorities said the stowaways would have died before the ship made it to the nearby Antwerp port.
[Copyright Expatica News 2006]
Subject: Belgian news