The attacker stayed illegally in Belgium after his asylum request was rejected in 2020. (File)
Brussels, Belgium:
The Islamist gunman who shot dead two Swedish football fans in Brussels this week had tried but failed to gain asylum in four European countries, Belgian authorities said on Thursday.
The forty-five-year-old Tunisian national – identified in media reports as Abdesalem Lassoued – carried out the attack on behalf of the Islamic State group before being killed by police.
“The terrorist who committed an attack in Brussels on Monday had applied for asylum in four different European countries and was rejected each time because he was not eligible for protection,” said Belgian Immigration Minister Nicole De Moor.
Official documents showed that the countries where he had filed applications since 2011 were Norway, Sweden, Italy and Belgium.
He stayed illegally in Belgium after his asylum application was rejected in 2020.
News of the attacker’s multiple failed asylum claims came after Swedish, Belgian and EU officials called for progress in stepping up deportations of illegal migrants in the aftermath of the shooting.
A proposal to tighten the rules and make it mandatory for EU countries to return people who are staying illegally has been in the works for years.
The EU says member states issue around 400,000 decisions to return people every year, but only around 65,000 have been returned so far this year.
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