Tighter border controls announced last month by Belgium’s Minister of the Interior have come under attack for their feeble application. It has transpired that illegal immigrants need only wait until late afternoon or the weekend to cross the border to get through Belgium’s ring of steel. It was trumpeted as a major initiative last month when Belgium’s Minister of the Interior announced his country would be introducing tighter border controls. Jan Jambon introduced the stricter regulations in response to the ongoing crisis in Europe caused by migrants from the Middle East and Africa. Belgium was not alone – Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Slovenia all took measures to secure their borders and slow the flow of migrants too. More rigorous border enforcement was just one part of wider moves which included further checks within Belgium itself, focusing on transport hubs and arteries like airports and rail lines. The aim is to use spot checks to identify and register illegal immigrants to help counter human trafficking operations. Jambon has spoken about stricter border checks since soon after January’s Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, as reported by Flanders News. Back then, declaring that “the chain is as strong as the weakest link” he explained: “We have to ensure that