Decriminalizing illegal immigrants

In 1996, it was reported the second 'Regularization Process' to take place in Portugal since 1992 was being prepared in order to granted amnesty to all 'illegal' people living there. The amnesty raises two serious concerns: the need for a regularization process implies that thousands of people have been living in Portugal illegally, for many years, without the same rights as other citizens; also that after this process the government will increase restrictive measures and mechanisms of exclusion similar to the rest of Western Europe.

In January 2000, Belgium opened a three-week amnesty period for application for residency by illegal foreigners. The applicant needed to fit into one of four categories: (1) have been an asylum-seeker for at least four years (three for families with children of school age); (2) unable to return to their country of origin for reasons beyond their control; (3) seriously ill; or (4) provide evidence of humanitarian reasons for staying and steady social links in the country.