Bilal Benyaich (Belgium) is a political scientist, diplomat and author.
Benyaich was the second child (of five) in a family of Moroccan migrant workers. His father worked in the mines of Limburg. Born and raised in Diest, Belgium, Bilal Benyaich studied political science at the Free University of Brussels (VUB). He worked for eight years in the research department of the Social and Economic Council of Flanders (SERV). He was also a senior fellow at the Belgian think-tank Itinera Institute and a lecturer at Odisee (the Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel) for many years. He has also been associated with the VUB, where he became an honorary fellow on the recommendation of the former rector, the late Caroline Pauwels. He was a columnist for De Tijd and a well-known author and opinion maker. He was widely regarded as a rational and realistic voice in the social debate.
Benyaich was ranked 11th among the "most influential immigrants in Belgium" by Knack in early 2014. In the government of technocrats drafted by De Morgen in 2015, he was elected Secretary of State for Counter-Terrorism and Deradicalisation.
In early 2016, he changed tack and became a diplomat. In 2017, he went to Ankara (Turkey) to represent Belgium. In October 2020, he returned to Belgium to become advisor on the Middle East to Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmès, the former prime minister of Belgium. Since 2023, Benyaich has been Deputy Ambassador of Belgium in Moscow (Russia).
Source: Wikipedia
