Eight Iraqi Migrants Found in U.S. Airbase in Belgium

A US air base in Belgium faced a serious security breach on Friday as eight Iraqi migrants were found in the trunk of a truck at the base.

The migrants, five men, a woman and two children, were discovered in the truck by the driver as he went to unload the vehicle from Germany carrying American food for the U.S. personnel at the Chievres air base.

It is not known how or when the migrants entered the truck, nor if they had intended to end up at the air force base.

What is known is that their ability to enter the base went unchecked. Standard security procedure should have meant the truck being examined before being allowed entry to the base but this check was not carried out due to a security lapse, reports local media.

Upon discovery, the migrants were handed over to local authorities. Staff at the base declined to comment on the incident.

The blunder comes as Belgium faces an ongoing immigration crisis. In December its former Secretary of State for Asylum, Migration, and Administrative Simplification Theo Francken resigned over the country’s agreement to sign a controversial international migration pact, known as the ‘Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration’.

Francken’s party, the New Flemish Alliance, has won plaudits for its tough stance on immigration. Francken told Politico “There is huge concern and even anger and frustration among a big part of the population about the chaotic organization of asylum and chaotic migration flows into Europe … The illegal chaos has to end,”