1. D’hondt Jasmien Strepparola Alessandro Tytgat Sonny

2. Immigration history in Belgium Before 1920 the immigration to Belgium was mainly from neighboring countries (32% from France, 22% from Germany and 28% from the Netherlands). After World War II, Belgium needed a lot of foreign workers to rebuild and restart our economy. Therefore a lot of Italian people came to Belgium to work here. After a mining disaster in 1956 the Italian government advised against working in Belgium.

3. Immigration history in Belgium During the economic boom from 1962-1966, there were a lot of jobs available in Belgium and the government started looking to find extra labor forces in other countries. They found the extra man power in Morocco and Turkey. After 1967 the immigration of people from Turkey, Italy, Greece and Spain declined but the immigration of Moroccans remained stable.

4. Immigration demographics Italian: 169 027people French: 130 568 people Dutch: 123 454 people Moroccan: 79 867 people Spanish: 42 712 people Turkish: 39 954 people

5. Population of immigrants by nationality

6. Assylum applications

7. Governmental Initiatives In 2003 the Belgian government has converted two European directives that have strengthened the Belgian legal arsenal in terms of discrimination. Directive on equal treatment in employment and occupation Directive for the implementation of equal treatment between persons irrespective of their race or ethical origin.

8. Governmental Initiatives In 2004 the Belgian government has started an action plan against racism. This decision was taken after the results of the regional elections had shown that the extreme right political parties had a large amount of votes. The action plan wants to reinforce the effectiveness of the antiracism law by giving sanctions against those who feed racism on the internet.

9. Governmental Initiatives When people immigrate to Belgium, they need to follow an integration course. The course exists out of 3 main topics: Basic course of Dutch Introduction to the Flemish and Belgian society Assistance in finding work or studies and the variety of culture and leisure

10. Belgian Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism. The organization offers services concerning different topics: Diversity and discrimination Roots of discrimination Migration Human traffic Poverty VN-stipulation handicap