"You decide who stays"

4 April 2007

BRUSSELS – Five illegal aliens will be on display in a glass house on the Muntplein in Brussels. The public is being invited to vote who should be deported.

The glass house will be in the square Wednesday and Thursday; it is an initiative from the Forum for Asylum and Migration. Five illegal aliens will be introduced to passers by, their stories are real.

The umbrella organisation is using this action to protest what they see as an arbitrary legalisation policy. There is no clear legislation or specific procedure for illegal aliens to become legal.

Not only those passing by in the centre of Brussels may vote, the public can also vote on the website of the newspaper the Standaard and via sms.

The illegal aliens are a Russian, a Colombian and a Congolese mother, a Serbian father and a single Moroccan man. Everyone may take part in deciding their fate under the motto “who gets to stay?”

In reality one of the five people has actually been legalised. Anyone who votes can find out afterwards which of the aliens had been granted legal status.

Forum is repeating its call for clear and uniform legislation with this campaign. The federal elections are quietly approaching and it should put politicians under pressure.

The Forum for Asylum and Migration is an umbrella association of 130 organisations that work to change asylum and migration policy. Not only refugee organisations are involved, but the trade unions too have signed the basic platform of the forum.

Subject: Belgian news

“You decide who stays”