Asylum Secretary announces new website to counter fake news about asylum seekers
The new Asylum Secretary Sammy Mahdi (Flemish Christian democrat) has announced that a new website will be created providing facts and figures about migration in Belgium, to counter fake news.
Mahdi was speaking during the VRT Radio's weekly breakfast interview with a politician on Saturday. He said that the website will provide detailed figures about the total number of people applying for a residence permit in Belgium, and also about how many are successful in the end, among other things.
The State Secretary wants to make asylum figures more transparent. "We see that the debate is often based on false figures. Some political parties are trying to convince citizens with the wrong figures. So I will create a website with the correct data: what is the total cost for the government is somebody is being granted asylum, what does this person receive or not receive etc."