Belgium approves home raids for undocumented migrants

Belgium approved a law on Friday allowing police, with immigration office staff, to enter homes in certain cases to detain undocumented migrants.

The law allows entry to the home of a person barred from remaining in Belgium, or another residence where the person is living, to make an arrest. It applies to people who are subject to a removal order or are considered liable to pose a threat to public order and national security.

An investigating judge must authorise the order before police enter any home. The law also allows police to ask for a locksmith's help if needed.

Belgian Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt called the law “historic” and said authorities must be able to intervene if someone represents a danger to society. She rejected the suggestion that the measure amounted to a “witch hunt against undocumented migrants”.

Human rights organisations have opposed the law, arguing that it violates civil liberties and Belgium's constitution. Amnesty International Belgium said the law wrongly equates being undocumented with criminality.