Reintegrating society without looking back. The impossible challenge of the socio-judicial pathway for returnees in Belgium

• In Event: Crime, Science and Politics WG Panel 5: Alternative Justice Pathways and Control Mechanisms

Abstract

The REGUIDE research project (https://reguide.be) seeks to develop a holistic, restorative and gendered approach to the issue of reintegrating returnees into Belgian society. Within this framework, the NICC team examined the socio-judicial pathways of returnees, focusing on their post-conviction pathway.
This presentation will discuss research conducted between 2021 and 2025, which aimed to identify the levers and obstacles of reintegration pathways of returnees and assess how criminal justice interventions these pathways. To do so, we analyzed data from the Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis (CUTA) database in order to obtain a quantified overview of the target group, examined a sample of probation officers' files and conducted focus groups with stakeholders in the field.
Our estimates suggest that around hundred individuals could be reintegrated into Belgium. Most are currently free, although some remain under judicial supervision. The research highlights the uniqueness and diversity of returnees’ socio-judicial pathways. Despite the unwavering support of their families and the significant investment of monitoring and support services, their situation often remains precarious on multiple levels. Many experience psychological distress, including symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Administratively, they face bureaucratic hurdles, such as difficulties obtaining official documents, loss of residence right and even revocation of nationality. Financially, their criminal records linked to terrorist offenses severely limit their employment opportunities. Socially, they encounter widespread stigma from the Belgian population, which appears to be even more pronounced within the Muslim community.
These findings highlight a certain dissonance in the political discourse between the injunction for reintegration (weighing on both returnees and field actors) and the structural difficulties observed in reintegration.

Authors

• Coline Remacle, NICC

• isabelle detry, National Institute for forensic sciences and criminology

• Benjamin Mine, INCC - Institut National de Criminalistique et de Criminologie

• Patrick Jeuniaux, INCC - Institut National de Criminalistique et de Criminologie