Brussels: Europe and the Arabs

At least 28 percent of convictions for criminal offenses are attributed to persons who do not have Belgian nationality. “These criminals should serve their sentences in their country of origin as much as possible,” says parliamentary group leader Barbara Bass (Vlams Belang), who asked for figures from Justice Minister Vincent van Quickenborn (Open Vld).
Of the 159,933 people convicted in 2020 (no recent figures are available), the right-wing party said in a statement, 45,389 of them did not have Belgian citizenship; Which is 28 percent of the convicts. “This means that foreign nationals are vastly overrepresented: while they make up ‘only’ 13 percent of the population, their share in crime statistics is more than double,” said Bass, who added that foreign nationals with dual citizenship are not included in the list. This figure, nor the Belgians of immigrant origin. And "Unlike a country like the Netherlands, recording data about origin in this country is still taboo."
The "top five" among convicts from non-EU countries are Morocco (3,034 convictions), Turkey (1,356), Congo (1,187), Algeria (935) and Albania (473), followed by Afghanistan (462).

At 43 per cent, foreign nationals are significantly overrepresented among the prison population.

A few weeks ago, it also emerged that foreign nationals (at 43 per cent) were over-represented in the prison population. Following the new figures, Vlaams Belang reiterated his plea to allow convicted criminal foreign nationals to serve their sentences as much as possible in their prisons. countries of origin. Parliamentarian Bass concludes, "This will not only provide a solution to the long-standing problem of overcrowding in our prisons, but will also lead to significant savings." Knowing that the cost of the prison system is estimated at 738 million euros
  Foreign prisoners cost the taxpayer on average more than 300 million euros (€317,4726,430 to be exact). “The prospect of serving a prison sentence in the home country will have a deterrent effect on potential foreign criminals which should not be underestimated.” According to the statement of the Vlaams Blang party