The Belgian government has revealed that Nigeria has the highest number of people in forced prostitution in the country as many Nigerians who travelled to the European country for greener pastures have been thrown into forced prostitution.
The Director-General of the Belgian Office for Foreigners, Mr Freddy Roosemont, who made the revelation while addressing a press conference in Abuja on Friday, said that most Nigerians were deceived into the country with the promise of job placements.
According to Roosemont, most of them are however being forced into prostitution by traffickers once they arrived in the country.
He said that “The dream is not real; it’s not easy to survive in Europe without a decent job. The dream is fake.
“Belgium is not the land of milk and honey, nor is Europe. This was not the case before, but is even less so now, in a world with many crisis hotspots with severe economic consequences.”
The Belgian official lamented that more Nigerians were currently seeking asylum in Belgium, adding that it made little sense.
He said that “Asylum is determined on the basis of the Geneva Convention and economic motives are not included. Therefore the recognition rate for asylum is very low and the chances of obtaining a residence permit are almost non-existent.”
Roosemont further noted that no fewer than 362 Nigerian migrants sought asylum in 2022 while 380 of them applied in 2023, adding that only a few of them got their application granted.
According to him, “As a consequence, people are forced to live in irregular stay, without a social safety net, in precarious conditions. They risk economic exploitation and women risk ending up in prostitution.”
He therefore charged Nigerians to ignore those trying to deceive them into embarking on the journey to Europe without admission to a university, a job offer from a Belgian company or an invitation from a family member to relocate.
