The judicial authorities in the Belgian city of Bruges are reported to have ordered the release of a Somali woman seeking asylum who's been detained for the past six months.

The Belgian authorities had repeatedly expelled her to a variety of African countries, but she has been sent back each time.

Her request for asylum is reported to have been turned down, because she refused to give details of rapes she said she'd been subjected to in Somalia to a male interpreter.

The death of a Nigeria detainee in September has focused attention on immigrant issues in Belgium.