Belgium announces border checks in migration clampdown

By Charlotte Van Campenhout

BRUSSELS -Belgium will introduce border checks on people coming into the country to clamp down on illegal migration, the government said, in another limit on free movement across Europe's Schengen zone.

The restrictions in the country that borders the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg and Germany will start this summer, a spokesperson for the junior minister for migration, Anneleen Van Bossuyt, said on Friday.

"Time for entry controls. Belgium must not be a magnet for those stopped elsewhere. Our message is clear: Belgium will no longer tolerate illegal migration and asylum shopping," Van Bossuyt wrote on X.

The announcement follows similar moves by the Netherlands and Germany, part of a broader crackdown on migration across the continent, even as numbers of arrivals on many major routes have shown signs of falling.

"The checks will be carried out in a targeted manner on major access roads such as motorway car parks, on bus traffic ... on certain trains ... and on intra-Schengen flights from countries with high migration pressure, such as Greece and Italy," a Belgian government statement said late on Thursday.

Prime Minister Bart De Wever, in office since February, has said curbing migration is a key priority for his right-leaning government.

Belgium is part of the open-border Schengen area which guarantees free travel between its 29 member states. Under article 23 of the Schengen Borders Code, members can temporarily reinstate border checks in response to security or migration pressures.

A spokesperson for the Belgian Immigration Office said it was difficult to give figures for illegal immigration at the moment without the systematic border checks.

Belgium, one of the world's richest countries, received 39,615 asylum applications in 2024, 11.6% more than in 2023, numbers from the Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers show.

The country had the capacity to take in 35,600 applicants in 2024, according to the figures, leaving many arrivals without proper accommodation.

(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout, Editing by Andrew Heavens)