Belgian police raid homes over illegal circumcisions allegedly performed not by doctors

Police in Antwerp are investigating reports of circumcisions being performed illegally, not by a doctor, according to Belgium’s Flemish broadcasting station VRT NWS.

Police conducted raids on three locations in the Jewish Quarter and nearby Green Quarter Wednesday morning, looking for knives and other equipment be used in circumcisions, the report says. No one was arrested.

The searches were ordered by a judge following a complaint from within the Jewish community, reports say.

Police are concerned that Jewish circumcisions are being performed by men who have not received proper medical training. Prosecutors have been investigating illegal circumcisions in the country since last fall.

Ritual circumcision has not yet been outlawed in any European country, but there have been attempts in several countries. Many countries, including Belgium, only allow licensed surgeons to perform the religious ritual, which is often performed in a synagogue.

Last year, authorities in Ireland arrested a rabbi from London for allegedly performing circumcision without the necessary medical credentials, the first case in years of a rabbi in Europe arrested in connection with a brit milah.