Francken doubles severance pay for Iraqi asylum seekers

Secretary of state for asylum and migration Theo Francken has doubled the severance payment offered to Iraqi asylum seekers in Belgium who return to their country voluntarily by the end of May, writes Knack.

"I am aware that this information is not pleasant," concludes Francken in the letter sent this week to 9,469 Iraqi citizens seeking asylum in Belgium. To encourage the asylum seekers to return to Iraq, he is offering a repatriation allowance of €500 each, under the condition that they leave the country by 31 May.

The letter is a follow-up to a first letter sent to the asylum seekers last October, in which he urged them to return voluntarily. “The security situation in Iraq has changed since 2014, and an applicant is no longer at risk when he returns," according to Francken.