How does someone become classified as an “irregular†migrant? This panel discussion examines the legal and administrative processes that can lead to irregular status and explores how these are linked to detention practices in Belgium. It also sheds light on the lived experiences and human impact of administrative detention, current Belgian migration policies, and the implementation of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum.
We invite participants to reflect on how easily regular status can be lost and on the realities and contradictions surrounding detention in Belgium. The conversation will also explore alternatives to detention and broader approaches to migration governance.
The event is part of the cross-faculty course Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Migration and Integration (B. El-Achkar, D. Vanheule, H. Greefs, M. Belloni). It's the result of a collaboration with MIGLOBA and builds on an .
Invited speakers
​Emmanuelle Vinois (Caritas International) – From Policy to Practice: Immigration Detention Through the Lens of Legal Field Work
Emmanuelle Vinois is a Legal Advisor at , where she provides legal advice on immigration law to social workers, designs and delivers training in immigration law, and drafts legal documents in support of people in vulnerable situations. She is the former Coordinator of the Move Coalition (2021–2024), the national NGO coalition conducting visits in migration detention centres in Belgium, and has worked as a lawyer (avocat) for four years, during which she visited the closed detention centres in Vottem (Liège) on a near-weekly basis to seek the release of detained individuals.
Ruben Bruynooghe (JRS Belgium) – Beyond the Law: Human Support, detention grounded field work and Alternatives to Detention
is a legal expert and Coordinator of the Detention Visitor Group at . Every Tuesday, he visits people held at the Caricole detention centre near Brussels Airport, providing them with information about their situation, their rights, and the role their lawyer can play. Beyond legal support, his work is rooted in human accompaniment — offering detained people a moment of recognition and dignity. He also coordinates JRS’s broader detention visiting programme which inspired the development of alternatives to detention, brought to live in the project “Plan Togetherâ€.
Programme
- 16:00–16:10  Welcome and introduction by Professor Milena Belloni, MIGLOBA Coordinator
- 16:10–16:30  Introduction to the speakers, their organisations, and their work
- 16:30–17:10  Administrative Detention: Practices, Policies and Legal Framework
- 17:10–17:30  Experiences, perspectives, and challenges arising from practice
- 17:30–18:00  Open discussion and Q&A