Belgium summons migrants to regularise them, then deports them

[HEAD]Belgium summons migrants to regularise them, then deports them on the spot

The Belgian authorities have launched a manoeuvre that is causing an uproar: summoning people in an irregular situation for what is supposed to be a regularisation, only to hand them a deportation order at the counter. The move, condemned by civil rights groups, is being sold as a hard-line turn in European migration policy, but many read it as pure theatre.

Real shift or calculated farce?

The interpretations could not be more opposed. Supporters of the measure argue that Europe has reached a breaking point and needs to react firmly to the arrival of irregular migrants. On the other side, a sceptical camp insists it is "controlled dissent": an action designed to give the appearance of doing something without changing the substance of the issue. The average citizen, if they lift the lid, finds a choreography staged to soothe consciences.

The effect on Spain and the talent being sent back

The irony is not trivial: among those summoned are engineers and skilled professionals, something some commentators highlight as a gift Segarro should be grateful for. And the economic debate points to a knock-on effect: those expelled from Belgium will, on the most pessimistic reading, end up in the Spanish labour market with jobs already lined up. Meanwhile, Spain shows no sign of an equivalent hard-line response, which reinforces the sense that European migration policy operates at several speeds.

The unsettling detail: the very people who applaud Belgium's firmness are usually the ones complaining that irregular immigration is a matter of supply and demand. If it is so easy to deport people after summoning them, why not do it earlier? Because, the sceptics suspect, the goal was never regularisation.