D’hondt Jasmien
Strepparola Alessandro
Tytgat Sonny
Immigration history in Belgium
 Before 1920 the immigration to Belgium was mainly
from neighboring countries (32% from France, 22%
from Germany and 28% from the Netherlands).
 After World War II, Belgium needed a lot of foreign
workers to rebuild and restart our economy. Therefore
a lot of Italian people came to Belgium to work here.
After a mining disaster in 1956 the Italian government
advised against working in Belgium.
Immigration history in Belgium
 During the economic boom from 1962-1966, there
were a lot of jobs available in Belgium and the
government started looking to find extra labor forces
in other countries. They found the extra man power in
Morocco and Turkey.
 After 1967 the immigration of people from Turkey,
Italy, Greece and Spain declined but the immigration
of Moroccans remained stable.
Immigration demographics
 Italian: 169 027people
 French: 130 568 people
 Dutch: 123 454 people
 Moroccan: 79 867 people
 Spanish: 42 712 people
 Turkish: 39 954 people
Population of immigrants by
nationality
Assylum applications
Governmental Initiatives
 In 2003 the Belgian government has converted two
European directives that have strengthened the
Belgian legal arsenal in terms of discrimination.
 Directive on equal treatment in employment and
occupation
 Directive for the implementation of equal treatment
between persons irrespective of their race or ethical
origin.
Governmental Initiatives
 In 2004 the Belgian government has started an action
plan against racism. This decision was taken after the
results of the regional elections had shown that the
extreme right political parties had a large amount of
votes. The action plan wants to reinforce the
effectiveness of the antiracism law by giving sanctions
against those who feed racism on the internet.
Governmental Initiatives
 When people immigrate to Belgium, they need to
follow an integration course. The course exists out of 3
main topics:
 Basic course of Dutch
 Introduction to the Flemish and Belgian society
 Assistance in finding work or studies and the variety of
culture and leisure
Belgian Centre for Equal
Opportunities and Opposition to
Racism.
The organization offers services concerning different
topics:
 Diversity and discrimination
 Roots of discrimination
 Migration
 Human traffic
 Poverty
 VN-stipulation handicap