A group of Serbian citizens who have requested political asylum in Belgium will head back to Serbia on March 10, Belgian Ambassador to Serbia Denise de Hauwere said. Only the asylum seekers who agree to return will be taken back this time, she told Tanjug Monday.

De Hauwere said she would visit southern Serbia Tuesday together with a Belgian delegation to confer on this problem with representatives of local authorities. She expressed her conviction that the Serbian authorities are equally concerned with this problem and wish to resolve it too.

The Tuesday talks will also focus on ways the trend of growing number of requests for asylum can be halted, De Hauwere said.

Since the beginning of this year, the number of Serbian citizens who have requested political asylum in Belgium was twice as high as that registered in the entire 2009, reaching 330 in February 2010 only. Most of the asylum seekers are Roma and ethnic Albanians, mainly from southern Serbia.