The applicant appealed against a judgement of the Liege Court of Appeal by which his detention was prolonged pending return and he is kept at the disposal of the Aliens Office. The applicant complained before the Court of Cassation that his detention is unlawful because there were no prospects of being deported to his country because such trip is not included in the list of ‘essential travel’ under the ministerial Decree of 28 October 2020 due to COVID-19. The applicant complained that since the removal of a foreigner is not included in the list of essential trips listed in appendix 2 of the aforementioned decree, this trip must be legally considered as a non-essential trip. Since all non-essential trips abroad are prohibited until 1 April 2021, the court of appeal should have ordered the release of the applicant.

The Court of Cassation rejected the appeal and the applicant’s allegations and ruled that the execution of a decision to expel from the national territory taken under a provision of the law of 15 December 1980 is not a measure comparable to the trips referred to in the ministerial decree of 28 October 2020. Thus, the Court of Cassation found that in principle an expulsion order of a foreigner in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic and a forced removal from the territory are not unlawful, because there is not a "trip”, or even a “non-essential trip”, within the meaning of the current restrictions.