Van Biesen: “I was talking about migration of labour”

Speaking in an interview VRT television’s current affairs programme Terzake Mr Van Biesen once again denied any wrong doing. Ms Kitir had told parliament that the Caterpillar workers would not be able to find new jobs and would be doomed to live on benefits.

"When she returned to her seat I said clearly to her that what she had said was not correct. If they are among the most productive in the world they will find work, be it her or elsewhere, for example in Turkey or Morocco”, Mr Van Biesen said.

"It was definitely not a swipe at Ms Kitir, but simply a statement about the migration of labour, something that will occur more and more often in the future”.

“I did not say ‘Go back to Morocco’ and I would like to say that I would not use that kind of language. I did indeed talk about Turkey and Morocco that was stupid, It would have been better if I hadn’t”, Mr Van Biesen added.

"If Ms Kitir and with her a lot of other MPs misunderstood me, I would like to apologise for the misunderstanding. However, I certainly didn’t say what they think I said”.