Other government information and services: belgium.be
This ad hoc query examines the voluntary return procedures for Ukrainian nationals granted temporary protection in EU Member States, focusing on the support provided for their return and reintegration. The aim is to understand the various national approaches to facilitating voluntary returns, including whether reintegration assistance is offered and how these programmes are funded.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Belgium has granted temporary protection to 93.343 Ukrainians, with a sharp decline beginning in 2023 and continuing into 2024 and early 2025. As the number of arrivals has slowed and the focus shifts to integration efforts, both the Flemish and Walloon governments plan to gradually reduce reception capacity for beneficiaries of temporary protection in the coming months.
This ad hoc query examines whether EMN Member and Observer Countries use mechanisms to verify that applicants are genuinely residing in the allocated accommodation. It explores how these mechanisms are implemented, whether vulnerability criteria are considered, and the rules for determining if accommodation has been abandoned and if residents can challenge such assessments. It also looks into whether these mechanisms have led to legal challenges, particularly regarding data protection.
Fedasil revealed that Belgium resettled 487 people in 2024, exceeding the 287 resettled in 2023. The refugees resettled in 2024 mainly came from countries such as Syria, Congo, Eritrea and Sudan.
While Belgium continues to face a reception crisis, ongoing since the summer of 2021, the latest figures from Fedasil show that the number of places for asylum seekers made available by municipalities continues to decrease.
This ad hoc query explores the legal frameworks and practices of EMN Member Countries to understand how they link reception conditions to whether an asylum seeker is legally employed.
On the occasion of International Volunteer Day, Fedasil highlights the importance of volunteers who give their time to residents in reception centres and of sponsors who create links with these residents outside of the centres. If you have free time, join them and contact a reception centre in your neighbourhood!
The 2024 national conference of EMN Finland shall examine the state of play as well as the future prospects of the situation of Ukrainians in Finland and in EU countries. The conference aims to address the challenges of integration in a situation where beneficiaries of temporary protection find themselves between two countries. The conference seeks to support these persons in the limbo between integration and return.
The European Migration Network (EMN) study looks at whether EMN Member Countries implemented any changes in the application of the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) in 2023 (as compared to 2022) and also aims to identify continued challenges, as well as good practices.
The Federal Institute for Human Rights launched an investigation into "the growing tendency of Belgian authorities not to implement court decisions that condemn them", inter alia regarding the reception of applicants for international protection. The report following the investigation will be sent to the Chamber of Representatives.
Fedasil announced that the Belgian reception network has now a higher capacity than that recorded during the asylum crisis of 2015-2016. However, this capacity is insufficient to accommodate all applicants for international protection who are entitled to reception. At present, 2.650 single men are still on the waiting list for a reception place.
Eurostat released data on unaccompanied minors granted temporary protection in 21 EU Member States and all EFTA countries between March 2022 and September 2024. Austria, the Netherlands and Lithuania have granted the most temporary protection statuses, in absolute terms, to unaccompanied minors since March 2022. Belgium has granted temporary protection status to 1600 unaccompanied minors during the same period.
Fedasil announced that it can temporarily make use of centres in Bredene (Flanders) and in Theux (Wallonia) to accommodate applicants for international protection until March 2025. Both sites have already been used by Fedasil in the past, each time for a period of a few months.
This inform provides insights into the governance and processes of accommodation for applicants for international protection in EMN Member and Observer Countries. This governance of accommodation is crucial for responding to challenges, such as fluctuating asylum applications, limited housing capacity, and community relations.
Fedasil has a budget for financing specific projects relating to the reception of asylum seekers (and other reception beneficiaries). The Agency has launched its call for projects for the year 2025. In 2025, the focus will be on projects that focus on support, activation, and housing.
In their jobs, front-line workers sometimes have to deal with the trauma of applicants for international protection and are confronted with conflicts, tensions and sometimes personal safety risks. Hence, they are exposed to a high risk of personal stress levels and burnout, moral injury, depression, trauma, and other mental health challenges. This conference aims to bring together stakeholders at national and EU level to share experiences, challenges and practical solutions in this field.
After nearly two years of closure, Fedasil’s Info Point reopened on 27 September 2023, at its new location in rue Héger-Bordet, 3. The Info Point offers information and counseling for applicants for international protection living outside the reception network, but also migrants in transit and persons without a residence permit.
In a statement from 19 September 2024, the Council of Europe notes that Belgium has taken steps to address the wider reception crisis (such as creating 3.500 additional reception places and accelerating the examination of certain asylum applications to free up existing reception places), but these measures are insufficient.
In collaboration with the Red Cross EU Office and the Swedish Red Cross, this Inform provides an overview of EMN Member and Observer Countries’ guidance and training on early detection and identification of presumed victims of torture or other forms of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in international protection procedures. It outlines procedural safeguards and guidance for asylum authorities when requesting medico-legal documentation in international protection applications, and it also details practices for identifying victims among beneficiaries of temporary protection to provide medical care, in line with the Temporary Protection Directive.
This ad hoc query examines whether EMN Member Countries provide alternative legal statuses, aside from temporary protection, for persons fleeing the war in Ukraine within their national legislation and explores whether these statuses grant certain rights beyond temporary protection. Additionally, it considers whether EMN Member Countries have plans to create and offer beneficiaries of temporary protection a more permanent status, other than international protection, before the expiration of temporary protection.
This ad hoc query examines whether EMN Member and Observer Countries have provisions in their current legislation that allow for the refusal of an application for temporary protection by a Ukrainian national solely on the basis that the applicant also holds the nationality of an EU Member State. Additionally, it explores how EMN Member and Observer Countries proceed when they receive such applications.
The Belgian Red Cross announced the opening of a new reception centre for applicants for international protection in Brussels. It will be able to accommodate up to 360 people.
In the 2024 Rule of Law Report, especially in the country chapter on the rule of law situation in Belgium, the European Commission recommends that Belgium takes measures to ensure compliance by public authorities with final rulings of national courts and the European Court of Human Rights, referring in particular to judgments finding the State responsible for not ensuring adequate reception of asylum seekers.
From 1 July 2024, adult asylum seekers who stay in a reception centre and who have a working income will have to contribute to this reception. Those who do not wish to contribute may consider staying outside the reception centre. They are free to leave the centre and find their own accommodation.
In order to structurally shorten the duration of reception in Belgium, an amendment was made to the Reception Act. Anyone who receives a final negative asylum decision must leave the reception place within a period of 30 days.
