Italy and Belgium on Thursday in Brussels signed a bilateral data-sharing agreement to combat the growing use of forged European Union residency permits by migrants, the interior ministry said in a statement.
Under the accord, Italy and Belgium agree "to actively share information to fight the growing illicit use by citizens from third countries (migrants) of EU residency permits," said the statement.
Interior ministry under-secretary Nicola Molteni and Belgium's state secretary for asylum and immigration, Theo Franken, signed the pact, which was inked on the sidelines of the Justice and Home Affairs Council, the statement said.
The accord is part of the EuresCrim project to deport migrants with criminal records and the RefuReturn project to track refugees who make visits to their homelands - both projects initiated by Belgium, the statement said.
