Discourage illegal immigration of Congolese to Belgium – Congo Indépendant

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Gaston Mutamba Lukusa

Freddy Rosemont, director of the Foreigners’ Office, had this to say in Kinshasa on July 13: There has been a significant increase in asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Belgium. For those who don’t know, the Foreigners’ Office manages all foreigners who are currently and in the future on Belgian territory. It manages the arrival, stay and possible deportation of foreigners. According to him, in 2023, Belgium received a total of 35,507 asylum applications. The top six countries of origin of the applicants were Afghanistan, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Ukraine and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Stupefied and shuddering! In 2023, Belgium recorded more than 1,200 asylum applications from Congolese nationals, and since the beginning of the year this number has exceeded 650. This is inexplicable when Congo is about to become the Germany of Africa! Hell and damnation!

According to the head of the immigration office, most applications contain false declarations and false documents to obtain a residence permit. No wonder they are rejected. These actions constitute an abuse of procedure. The fake political refugees then go into hiding without any social assistance before being deported to their country of origin. This explains it, there is no point in leaving your country for economic reasons and requesting political asylum, because political asylum will be rejected. Instead, you have to go through legal channels to stay in the flat country. The Belgian Embassy in Kinshasa issues more than 10,000 visas per year for students or family visits, tourism and business trips. According to my friends who know what is happening in every corner of the dilapidated Kinshasa, many Congolese have only one dream: to leave the country. They want to leave for economic reasons. They want to escape the inconveniences they endure. They seek to escape poverty, unemployment and bad governance.

There are channels that facilitate illegal immigration. Some visa holders sometimes prefer to stay in Belgium after their stay ends. Sapelipet! At a certain period, the Kalotins also made clandestine immigration, but they were stopped by Cardinal Etsou! They learned that there was a shortage of priests in certain parishes and the Belgian government paid the priests on time. Money, as we all know, is a universal language, although it was said more than two thousand years ago that no one can serve two masters, God and money. Aristotle said that nature abhors a vacuum. Whatever comes next!

My friend has gone crazy and wants to go abroad too. Not only does he hope to benefit from his expatriate status in Belgium, he also hopes to marry a blonde. Sapristi! According to my know-it-all friend, life abroad is not always so rosy. Congolese in the diaspora find themselves either unemployed, doing odd jobs or working undercover. They are often employed in construction and public works, small restaurants, hairdressing, security, medical aid, sports and music. Fortunately, their remittances help the country fight poverty. These hard currency transfers amount to $1.4 billion by 2023, compared to $2 billion a few years ago, which is more than official development assistance. However, most Congolese dream of returning as soon as the country is better managed. That is why they cannot tolerate powers that do not improve economic and social conditions.

We say that it is better to suffer abroad than to be poor at home.