Four in every 10 detainees in Belgian jails are of foreign extraction, local daily De Standaard reported on Wednesday.

Statistics revealed by the Justice Ministry shows that there were 9,083 detainees in Belgium at the end of last September. Among of them, more than 40 percent are immigrants.

After Belgian nationals, the largest group of detainees is Moroccan nationals (1,071 or one in 10), followed by Algerians ( 323), Turkish (250) and Italians (249).

It is the first time that the Justice Ministry has released such figures and Christian Democrat CD&V Senator Hugo Vandenberghe- who requested the statistics - hopes they will stimulate a more pragmatic debate.

"It is not right (to say) that the presence of foreigners does not give safety problems. Even less so that all foreigners are criminals," Vandenberghe said.

The Flemish-speaking Senator said politicians and policymakers should take statistical facts into account, but stressed that figures had not been forthcoming until now.

Safety expert Brice De Ruyver, an advisor for Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, said the high proportion of foreign detainees can be attributed to Belgium's prosperity, making it an attractive target for criminals.

De Ruyver also said the high proportion of Moroccans and Algerians could be traced back to drugs crimes. Many of the Turkish nationals being detained were also arrested for drugs crimes.

Source: Xinhua