Belgium sends 'burden' EU citizens letters asking them to leave the country

Published on Jan 30, 2014

Some 2,712 citizens of other EU countries have been asked to leave Belgium for being an unreasonable burden on the welfare system.

The number of people being told to go has more than tripled in three years.

Even having a job is not enough to be allowed to stay, as is the case of Italian accordion player Silvia Gurria, who has lived in Brussels for three years.

"The letter says that because I have an integration work contract, 30 percent of my salary is funded by the state. Suddenly they simply consider it's too big a cost to the state. That's the main motivation behind the eviction notice," explained Gurria.

According to the 2004 European directive on the free movement of workers: "Persons exercising their right of residence should not, however, become an unreasonable burden on the social assistance system of the host member State during an initial period of residence." This gives EU member countries the right to expel EU citizens.

Those asked to leave include people who have lost their jobs and students no longer studying.

"It is not particulary severe, it's just... it's reasonable and it's in keeping with European legislation. Even if there are currently a large number of people whose stays have been refused, the law entitles us to make these decisions. So I think we have correctly and objectively applied European and national legislation," said Dominique Ernould from the Belgian Office for Foreigners.

Most of the notices have been sent to Romanians and Bulgarians. Third and fourth are people from Spain and Italy respectively.


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