Monday, 19 August 2013

Belgium: ‘Syrian fighters’ benefits cut’

19 August 2013
 
Presseurop De Standaard
 
Municipal authorities in Antwerp and Vilvoorde have removed 29 people who have left Belgium to fight in Syria from social welfare registers, effectively cutting them off from all state benefits.
De Standaard explains that in recent months, Belgian police and intelligence services have found that in several cases, Belgian nationals fighting alongside Syrian rebels continued to receive social welfare payments, including unemployment benefit.
“Notwithstanding major upset over the issue in the Muslim community, there will be further departures” for Syria, declared the mayor of Vilvoorde.