Salah Abdeslam should never be allowed back in Belgium, says Francken

Terror suspect Salah Abdeslam, who is currently incarcerated in France, should never be allowed to return to Belgium, according to state secretary for asylum and migration Theo Francken. While Abdeslam was already scrapped from the population register of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean in June, Francken is currently working on a bill that would permanently deny residency rights to convicted terrorists, writes La Dernière Heure.

Abdeslam has both a French identity card and a Belgian residence permit, having lived nearly all of his life in Molenbeek. The Brussels commune where he grew up removed Abdeslam from their register after a routine domicile check revealed that he, a foreigner with a residence permit, was not staying at his official address. Should Abdeslam at some point come free due to an acquittal or after serving his sentence, for example, he could in principle move back to Belgium.

Francken (pictured) wants to prevent this, and is therefore working on a bill to strip non-Belgians (who were born in Belgium or arrived before the age of 12) of their residency rights if they are convicted of committing serious crimes with regard to public order and national security.