The government in Brussels announced the temporary restoration of border control with France to effectively deal with a possible influx of refugees trying to leave the "Jungle" camp near Calais.
"When [refugee] camps in France will be evacuated, we could cope with the influx of thousands of people. We'll control the border at strategic places," Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said, as cited by Le Monde.
Furthermore, Jambon announced that between 250 and 290 extra police officers will be deployed on the French-Belgian border.
The Belgian government wants to avoid the settlement of refugee camps, like the "Jungle," on its territory.
"We want to avoid at all costs tented camps in the Calais-style in Belgium. It's a matter of law enforcement," the Interior Minister said, as quoted by Le Monde.
Belgium became the seventh country to throw out of the window one of the key EU principles — free movement of people across the continent — fearing an influx of refugees. Prior to Belgium, France, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Norway and Sweden began checking documents at border control areas.
The European Union is currently struggling to manage a massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing conflict-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The EU border agency Frontex recorded more than 1.8 million illegal border crossings in the EU in 2015.
As time passes and with no political solutions found, the situation on the continent is getting worse. As a result of the refugee crisis, right-wing extremism is on the rise in Europe, Britain might exit the EU, while Greece has been made a scapegoat for all the problems, being accused of not being able to control its border.
