Belgium Rejects Asylum Bid by Convicted Sharia4Belgium Leader Fouad Belkacem, Appeal Still Possible
Belgium's asylum authority has turned down a protection request by Fouad Belkacem, the former Sharia4Belgium leader convicted of terrorism and stripped of his Belgian citizenship. He can still appeal, and he has not been deported.
Belgium's asylum authority has rejected an application for international protection by Fouad Belkacem, the former Sharia4Belgium leader convicted of terrorism offences, opening the way for his return to Morocco once he completes his prison sentence. The rejection was announced on Friday, October 2, and an appeal remains possible.
The Moroccan news site Bladi.net, citing the Belga news agency and Belgium's migration minister, reported on October 3 that the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) had turned down the request. According to the report, the authorities saw no obstacle to sending him back to Morocco after his sentence ends.
An application made public days earlier
Belkacem's protection request was reportedly made public on Wednesday, September 30, two days before the rejection was announced. The CGRS is the Belgian body that examines asylum and protection claims at first instance.
Conviction and loss of citizenship
According to Bladi.net, a Belgian court sentenced Belkacem to 12 years in prison on terrorism charges in 2015. In 2018, the appeal court in Antwerp stripped him of his Belgian citizenship. The report says his sentence is expected to end in 2027.
The case does not involve any new criminal accusation. His terrorism conviction is the background to the decision, and the question now before the Belgian authorities is his immigration status once he has served his term.
What Belgian rules say about exclusion
CGRS guidance lists grounds on which a person can be excluded from refugee protection, including war crimes, serious nonpolitical crimes committed abroad before admission to Belgium, and acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. The reasons given in Belkacem's individual decision have not been published.
An appeal, then removal
A refusal of protection is not the same as a removal, and Belkacem has not been deported. Bladi.net reported that Belkacem can still appeal the decision, and any return to Morocco would follow the end of his prison term. The next step in the case is whether he lodges that appeal before his expected release in 2027.
