As refugees continue to seek shelter in Europe, Belgium has grown increasingly concerned about who is crossing its borders. Following the November terrorist attacks that killed 130 people in Paris and last month’s suicide bombings in Brussels, European governments are looking for new ways to defend against extremists.
Belgium’s latest plan calls on all immigrants wishing to live in the country to sign a statement that declares their acceptance of local values and includes a promise to report any knowledge of "acts of terrorism."
"[Many people] are coming [to Belgium] from countries with other values," said Laurent Mutambayi, spokesman for Belgium’s secretary of state for asylum and migration, Theo Francken.
"If they want to build their life here in Europe [we have] no problem with that but they have to sign this statement that they accept our values."
Those who fail to abide by the pledge will be removed from the country.
Critics argue that such a pledge implies that immigrants have lax morals and that the proposal only creates a further divide between immigrants and locals, making it more difficult to integrate.
"It’s an extra tool for the immigration office to keep some people out of Belgium," said Didier Vanderslycke from ORBIT, an organization focused on diversity.
"The integration process can start when you have the residence and not when you sign a document that you will integrate. It’s really a bad thing as a welcome [for] people."
A sizeable portion of Belgians support even stricter measures. A survey conducted by the Ceci n’est pas une crise foundation found that roughly half of its citizens support closing Belgium’s borders to refugees.
One in four respondents said that they believe representatives of the Muslim community are accomplices to terrorism.
