Syrian family asks Belgian PM for visa to flee war-torn home

A Syrian family on Monday made a request to Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel for a permit to travel to Belgium and seek protection.

The family from the war-torn Syrian city of Aleppo sent the request directly to the prime minister's office through their lawyer in Belgium.

Michel and his cabinet have not yet responded to the family's request.

Earlier this year, a Belgian family in the southern province of Namur offered to host the Syrian family of four and assisted them in applying for a humanitarian visa, which would allow them to stay in Belgium for three months and then apply for asylum.

Their application was approved in October by the Council of Litigation of Foreigners (RvV), a Belgian administrative tribunal.

Theo Francken, however, refused to grant them the visa, saying that it could trigger a huge flux of asylum seekers coming to Belgium through the same procedures.

A court of appeal later upheld the RvV's decision and ordered that the Belgian government would have to pay a fine of 4,000 euros (4,246 U.S. dollars) per day until a visa was issued to the family. The fine, however, has not been collected so far.

The case has sparked heated debate in Belgium.

Francken insisted that the visa would not be issued as it would make a "dangerous precedent" and put the country's border control at risk.

Supporters of the family, however, argued that such a refusal violated the European Convention of Human Rights. Endit