Belgium to repatriate first group of asylum seekers

10/03/2010

BELGRADE, Serbia -- On Tuesday (March 9th), Belgian Secretary of State for Asylum Melchior Wathelet told authorities in the southern Serbian municipalities of Presevo and Bujanovac that Serbian citizens will not be granted asylum for economic reasons. He added that the first group of asylum seekers from Serbia and Macedonia would be sent home Wednesday. According to official data, 58 Serbian citizens applied for asylum in Belgium in January, followed by 330 in February. Most of them are ethnic Albanians from southern Serbia. Serbian citizens have been free to travel within the EU without visas since December. Wathelet stressed that one way to stop people from seeking asylum is to invest in the economies of their native regions. (B92, Beta, Blic - 09/03/10)

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