Belgian State to Compensate 2 Int’l Students After Court Rules They Were Unlawfully Detained
According to the decision of the first instance court in Brussels, the two students, one of Morocco and the other of Congolese origin, were arrested despite both holding valid visas issued by France and the Embassy of Belgium in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at the time of detention.
Le Soir reports that the justice system in Belgium has recognised a “manifest of power” from the airport police in the treatment of the two international students. The affected students – Ouiam Ziti and Junior Masudi Wasso – were expelled at the Belgian borders at the end of 2021 and were detained in Caricole Center (Steenokkerzeel) near Brussels national airport for 11 and 17 days, respectively.
The price that the state will have to pay for the unjust detainment of students reaches several thousands of euros, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
The Belgian daily newspaper further explains that the Moroccan student Ouiam Ziti who lives in Romania, seemed suspicious to the police upon her arrival at Brussels South Charleroi Airport, despite her having a Schengen visa, which was issued by France mainly because of her relatives in Belgium. The police also criticised the student for not keeping cash and because she did not have a credit card but only a debit card.
The other student, Junior Masudi Wasso, was travelling to Belgium to continue his studies at the Catholic University of Leuven, where he had been accepted. However, he also seemed suspicious to the Belgian airport police. Media reports say that the student was stressed during the interrogation, which raised doubts for one of the investigators.
Police suspicions may have been fueled by previous Schengen visa scams. At the end of last month, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reported on the arrest of a Moroccan citizen who was found guilty of defrauding citizens of the country by selling them falsified Schengen work visas.
Similarly, in Germany, the police in Lindau arrested a 37-year-old foreign citizen in February this year who had stayed in Europe for at least six years without a residence permit.
The police said there were suspicions that the arrested man, since 2017, had stayed continuously in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands, illegally, i.e. without documents, although with a valid passport.
