The Measurement of International Migration in Belgium

Abstract

This article examines legislation affecting international migration in Belgium from the perspective of 2 questions: 1) What types of migrants are definable by legislation? and 2) What kinds of documents may be utilized to compile statistics on international migration? The following are some of the articles main points. 1) Since January 1 1847 each communal administration in Belgium has maintained a national population register that details births deaths marriages and household structures and all movements within 1 commune from 1 commune to another and movements between states. 2) When a Belgian citizen leaves for a foreign destination with the intention of settling there his name is struck from the registers. 3) To enter Belgian territory the alien must possess the documents required under bilateral agreements between Belgium and each of the states concerned. Generally the alien must obtain a visa to his passport from 1 of the diplomatic or consular offices of Benelux before entering Belgium. The alien must have sufficient means of subsistence to avoid being considered in need. He must not be listed as an undesirable alien in Belgium he must not have been convicted of a crime and he must not constitute a danger to public order or national security The alien also should not have been expelled from Belgium less than 10 years earlier. 4) Absence from Belgium and the right to return is granted to aliens holding a valid certificate of enrollment or a settlement card. 5) Any individual who has reason to fear persecution can obtain refugee status; his stay is protected until his application is declared to be unfounded by the High Commission. 6) The National Statistical Institute issues various types of data from which international population movements can be identified. The 2 main sources of these statistics are the population censuses held every 10 years and the annual demographic statistics. 7) In 1967 the Belgian Council of Ministers authorized the setting up of the National Register a computerized and centralized population register that is the most important source of demographic information. Law requires that residents provide to the database their names and surnames main residence address profession nationality civil status composition of the household place and date of birth and place and date of death.