A senior member of the right-wing Flemish nationalist party N-VA has condemned the amount of financial support provided by the Belgian State to Ukrainian refugees, and has called on the Federal Government to do more to encourage those granted asylum in Belgium to seek gainful employment.
"More than a year after the start of the war, we still have a moral responsibility to welcome these Ukrainians, mainly women, whose men are fighting for our freedoms too," N-VA MP Theo Francken told La Dernière Heure. "What is not normal, on the other hand, is the amount of [financial] support granted to these refugees."
He added: "This aid allows several families to reach amounts of €3,000 to €4,000 per month!... We cannot consider that these sums constitute [merely] a living wage. They're huge! Our neighbours do not pay such amounts! In the Netherlands, the aid granted in this way is 60% lower.... For the year 2023 alone, the budget for this aid is set at €372 million! It's colossal. We cannot afford to grant such amounts."
N-VA's Theo Francken. Credit: Belga / Benoit Doppagne
Almost 70,000 Ukrainians have applied for temporary protection in Belgium since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February last year. The vast majority of those seeking asylum are women and children.
'High time to hold a debate'
Francken, who achieved notoriety for his hard-line approach to immigration during his tenure as Belgium's State Secretary for Migration from 2014 to 2018, also suggested that the high amount of support disincentivises Ukrainian refugees from trying to find a job.
"In Poland, the amounts are significantly lower and almost 10 out of 10 Ukrainians are now working," he said. "In the Netherlands, we are talking about 8 out of 10 Ukrainians at work. At home, we are at 2 out of 10! How do you want to encourage people to accept a job if they receive such high amounts?"
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The 45-year-old also claimed much of the money provided by the Belgian State is not being used as originally intended, but rather is being illicitly wielded to fund holidays and provide remittances to family members still in Ukraine.
"Some people pay this money to their relatives in Ukraine, others told me again this weekend that several were going on 'holidays' in Ukraine before returning to Belgium," he said. "It is high time to hold a debate in the Chamber [of Representatives] on this aid. We have to be able to encourage work too and this is not how we're going to get there."
