The attacker stayed in Belgium illegally after his bid for asylum was rejected in 2020. (File)
The Islamist gunman who shot dead two Swedish football fans in Brussels this week had tried and failed to get asylum in four European countries, Belgian authorities said Thursday.
Forty-five-year-old Tunisian national -- identified in media reports as Abdesalem Lassoued -- carried out the attack in the name of the Islamic State group before being killed by police.
"The terrorist that committed an attack in Brussels on Monday had asked for asylum in four different European countries and every time he was rejected because he did not qualify for protection," Belgian immigration minister Nicole De Moor said.
Official documents showed the countries where he had lodged applications since 2011 were Norway, Sweden, Italy and Belgium.
He had stayed in Belgium illegally after his bid for asylum was rejected in 2020.
The news of the attacker's multiple failed asylum applications came after Swedish, Belgian and EU officials pleaded for progress on stepping up expulsions of irregular migrants in the wake of the shooting.
A proposal to toughen the rules to make it mandatory for EU states to try to return people staying illegally has been stalled for years.
The EU says that each year member states issue some 400,000 decisions that people should be returned, but so far this year only about 65,000 have been sent back.
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