Belgium Humanitarian Visa Scandal Linked To Arrests
Belgian police carried out a major operation in Antwerp in February 2019 as part of an investigation into a criminal network that authorities said had links to the humanitarian visa scandal involving Iraqi and Syrian Christians. Police conducted 46 house searches and arrested 15 people during the operation, according to Belgian authorities and local media reports.
The arrests came after a wider investigation into allegations that humanitarian visas had been improperly arranged for people seeking to come to Belgium. Earlier that year, Melikan Kucam, a former N-VA city councillor in Mechelen, had been arrested and accused of taking large sums of money from Eastern Christians in exchange for helping arrange humanitarian visas.
Kucam was suspected of demanding payments of up to around 10,000 euros for some visas, while his son was later also arrested in connection with the investigation. The son was charged with human trafficking, criminal conspiracy and embezzlement, according to the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office.
Police Investigate Drugs And Weapons
The Antwerp operation was not limited to the humanitarian visa investigation. Police were also investigating suspected drug trafficking, weapons offenses, forged identity documents, corruption and money laundering.
Investigators said the group targeted in Antwerp was made up largely of people from an Eastern Christian community and was suspected of having connections to Kucam through family relationships. Authorities were also investigating possible attempts by members of the group to establish connections within political circles, the police, the Port of Antwerp and other institutions.
According to the investigation, cocaine trafficking through the Port of Antwerp was among the allegations examined by prosecutors. The broader investigation into the group had started in 2017 and eventually became known as the Clan Y investigation.
What Happened To The Visa Case?
The humanitarian visa investigation later resulted in criminal proceedings against Kucam and several other defendants. Prosecutors alleged that Kucam had used his position as an intermediary for the office of then-State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Theo Francken to obtain money from people seeking humanitarian visas.
The humanitarian visa program had been used to bring Eastern Christians from countries including Syria to Belgium, with the stated purpose of helping people facing serious risks and persecution. Belgian immigration authorities later explained that names were submitted for security screening, while questions were raised about how those lists were created and who selected the people included.
In 2020, prosecutors said that 246 Eastern Christians had entered Belgium through the humanitarian visa system associated with Kucam, and alleged that at least 95 of them had paid him or people working through his network. Prosecutors estimated that the amounts collected exceeded half a million euros, while Kucam denied the allegations.
The case eventually went to court, and Kucam was convicted in 2021 and sentenced to eight years in prison for human trafficking and fraud involving humanitarian visas. His conviction was later upheld on appeal in 2022, although his sentence was reduced.
The investigation into the wider criminal network continued separately. In January 2025, the trial of 105 alleged members of Clan Y began at the Antwerp Criminal Court, following an investigation into alleged drug trafficking and attempts to infiltrate municipal services, the police, the port and the Church. Kucam’s name had previously emerged during the investigation because of his separate humanitarian visa case.
The developments surrounding the humanitarian visa scandal therefore involved several separate investigations and court cases, and allegations made during the initial police operation should be distinguished from the convictions and other judicial findings that followed in later years.
