Turks in Belgium - History

History

Turkish migration to Belgium began in the 1960s when Belgium was actively encouraging immigration to meet its employment needs in an era of rapid economic expansion. These immigrants were welcomed as "guest workers" when Turkey signed a bilateral agreement with Belgium in July 1964. As mainly unskilled labourers, Turkish immigrants hoped to make a fortune in a short time and then return to Turkey. The majority of Turkish migrants arrived from the rural regions of central Anatolian provinces, particularly from Afyon, Eskisehir and Kayseri. Many settled in the industrialised areas and later brought families when Belgium attempted to resolve the growing problem of low population by encouraging family reunions.

By the 1970s the phenomenon of immigrants arriving in Belgium with a tourist visa started; most came from Afyon, especially from the town of Emirdağ. The reason for the high concentration of Emirdağ migrants was because the bulk of previous Turkish migrants, who arrived during the initial years, were also from Emirdağ. Thus, the first groups of migrants paved the way for chain migrations, aided by Belgium's liberal work and residence permits policy. Upon arrival they looked for work and tried to legalise their status as labourers. The presence of these tourists created a black market labour force so that on two occasions the government had to legalise their status. Once they obtained the status of "guest workers" they could bring in their family.

By the 1980s, immigration to Belgium for economic reasons was forbidden by law. The only legal way to take up residence in Belgium was by family reunification, which was only applicable to members of the nuclear family of guest workers or by marrying someone who was a Belgian citizen. Another possible motive for coming to Belgium was to apply for the status of asylum-seeker upon arrival. Turkish asylum seekers came from all over Turkey, with some belonging to minority groups in the country (such as Kurds). However, other asylum seekers included ethnic Turks from Eastern Europe (such as Bulgarian Turks and Macedonian Turks).

Since the entry of Bulgaria into the European Union, thousands of Bulgarian Turks, among whom many were already working in Belgium as undocumented foreigners, have established themselves under the status of independent workers, i.e. officially minor associates in small firms, mostly in the building and cleaning sector. They've brought with them their spouses and children, thus beginning to make Belgium their new home, some children are indeed born in Belgium, even when their parents were or are still undocumented. There were officially 1,957 Bulgarian-born persons living in Belgium in 2001, 4,807 in 2006.