As to the length of procedure, the State Secretary for Migration and Asylum Policies, Social Integration and the Fight Against Poverty stated that the average time for deciding on asylum applications introduced in 2012 amounted to 101 days (i.e. cumulative time spent in the Immigration Office and in the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons). Maggie de Block concluded that, for asylum instances, the output is now higher than the inflow.

As to the project aimed at improving the asylum procedure, the emphasis was placed on maintaining its current quality and reinforcing it at the same time as its effectiveness. The main objective is (1) to reduce the time an asylum application "spends" between the Immigration Office, the Office of the Commissionner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons and finally the Aliens Litigation Council and (2) to reduce the processing time of an individual file in the two above mentioned asylum instances and the Court. Throughout the duration of the project, the Immigration Office and the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons worked on the implementation of "quick wins" to improve what could be improved quickly and facilitate the progress of the procedure (for example, faster transfer of information). Apart from the above mentioned effectiveness related objective, Maggie De Block also referred to other componenets of the project, including the strengthening of quality management to guarantee and harmonize the quality of examination of asylum applications and the strengthening of monitoring (targets and results) to effectively manage the workload.

Please find attached in French or Dutch only additional information on the above mentioned topic as well as other information inter alia on refusals of residence permits for medical reasons, prevention campaigns, emergency medical assistance to illegally staying migrants, etc.