Refugee policies in Belgium in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

The history of refugee policies in Belgium has been mainly analysed within the framework of decisions taken by central authorities and within an international refugee regime This research has shown that these policies developed not only thanks to humanitarian and altruistic motives, but mainly because of pragmatic national and international interests In this historical analysis the administrative category 'refugee' has to be distinguished from the sociological category Not all refugees have been eligible to refugee status One should also analyse refugee policy as a part of alien policies Refugee policies have been mainly created to provide an immigration possibility to people outside the regulated immigration system whose forced expulsion was not acceptable More attention to the strategies of the refugees themselves can also improve our insight in refugee policies