At the beginning of 2023, a coordination meeting of the directors of the Belgian closed detention centers was held. At this meeting, they expressed their concern about the significant increase in the trafficking of drugs inside their centers. That’s why EMN Belgium was asked to launch an ad hoc query in order to gather information on how this issue is addressed in the other Member States.  

A spending review published on 31 August 2026 examines the organisation of Belgium’s closed centres and their role in the return chain. It finds that the centres operate relatively efficiently within current constraints, while identifying structural challenges affecting the use of available capacity. As of 20 May 2026, 541 of the 689 theoretical places were effectively usable, with 148 unavailable due to infrastructure problems or staff shortages. The review puts forward 74 recommendations and more than 170 concrete actions across nine areas.

Belgium has laid the first stone of a new short-stay departure centre in Steenokkerzeel, aimed at housing individuals in irregular stay pending return. The 50-place facility is scheduled to open by the end of 2026. It forms part of a broader plan to expand and improve the country’s closed centres.

On 26 April 2024, the Council of Ministers approved, upon proposal by the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor and the Secretary of State in charge of the Buildings Administration Mathieu Michel, the public procurement for new closed centers in Jabbeke and Jumet.

The House of Representatives approved a draft law creating a prevention mechanism to safeguard the rights of people detained in prisons, closed centres and police stations. The mechanism will be overseen by the Federal Institute for Human Rights, in conjunction with the Central Prison Monitoring Council, the Federal Migration Centre Myria, and 'Committee P'.

The Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration announced today that a new software was in the process of being developed with the digital product studio "In the pocket" to better manage information relating to the stay of third-country nationals in closed centres. 

The Federal Institute is tasked with regularly examining the situation of persons deprived of their liberty through preventive visits, making recommendations to the competent authorities and proposing legislation and verifying its compatibility with international standards.