The ROMNI Roma Women’s Platform from the Republic of Moldova strongly condemned recent statements made by Belgium’s Minister for Asylum and Migration, Anneleen Van Bossuyt. The minister publicly claimed that an increasing number of Moldovan citizens, especially people of Roma ethnicity, come to Belgium abusively, merely to stay in shelters during the winter.

“Every winter since 2020, we’ve seen an increase in asylum requests from Moldova, especially from the Roma community. People come temporarily to spend the winter in our shelters, without any right to protection. This is asylum tourism — and it must stop,” Van Bossuyt wrote in a social media post ahead of her official visit to Moldova.

The ROMNI Platform called these statements “dangerous and discriminatory,” accusing Van Bossuyt of stigmatizing the entire Roma community and reinforcing institutional racism.

“Generalizations about ‘asylum tourism’ are dangerous and discriminatory. Such statements stigmatize Roma women and the entire community. They fuel institutional racism and violate the fundamental right to international protection,” the Platform said in a press release.

Roma women are demanding that the Belgian minister stop collective labeling and respect the international obligations Belgium has undertaken regarding refugee rights. According to activists, migration and asylum-seeking are not acts of comfort but desperate efforts to survive.

“The right to asylum is a right, not a privilege. Every person deserves an individual, fair, and humane assessment. Roma women and their children are not a threat. They are human beings. They are mothers. They are fighters for a dignified life,” the ROMNI representatives emphasized.

The organization also pointed out that such political rhetoric ignores the harsh realities faced by Roma communities in Moldova — extreme poverty, domestic violence, lack of housing, and systemic discrimination.

The only official reaction from Moldovan authorities came from the Minister of Labor and Social Protection, Alexei Buzu, who confirmed that he directly discussed the matter with Minister Van Bossuyt and requested further clarifications.

“I asked the minister for more details and reiterated that we, as public officials, must be much more aware of how we speak publicly about certain groups in society, because we want to avoid the victimization and stigmatization of vulnerable groups,” Buzu stated.

Van Bossuyt reaffirmed her stance in interviews with Moldovan media during her visit, stating that in the past five years, around 1,000 Roma people — mostly from northern Moldova — apply for asylum in Belgium annually. She claimed that most applications are rejected and described the phenomenon as a form of “abuse.”