Non-reception policy : people left behind in a documented crisis

For seve­ral years now, the recep­tion cri­sis has been drag­ging on and get­ting worse. People are being left without shel­ter, without access to their rights, and without solu­tions. Vluch­te­lin­gen­werk Vlaan­de­ren, CIRÉ, the Huma­ni­ta­rian Hub, Doc­tors of the World, Méde­cins Sans Fron­tières, Cari­tas Inter­na­tio­nal, and we at Bel­Re­fu­gees have publi­shed a joint dash­board to mea­sure the scale of the cri­sis. What is docu­men­ted there is dee­ply alar­ming, though not sur­pri­sing, because we have been wit­nes­sing it on the ground for years.

What has chan­ged since sum­mer 2025 is the scale of the pro­blem. For a long time, the recep­tion cri­sis main­ly affec­ted single men. Today, women and fami­lies with chil­dren are also being left without accom­mo­da­tion solu­tions.
Since August, near­ly 400 fami­lies (around 1,500 people) have been tur­ned away by emer­gen­cy recep­tion ser­vices. At the same time, up to 75% of accom­mo­da­tion requests for fami­lies go unanswered.

Food dis­tri­bu­tions are soa­ring : 135,000 meals were dis­tri­bu­ted in six months, or more than 800 a day, while access to heal­th­care is shrin­king. People are begin­ning their jour­ney in Bel­gium without stable hou­sing, dependent on emer­gen­cy sys­tems that are them­selves rea­ching their limits. Even today, near­ly 1,800 people are still wai­ting for a recep­tion place, some­times for seve­ral weeks.

For teams and volun­teers, this is a dai­ly rea­li­ty : sup­por­ting people without being able to refer them to a las­ting solu­tion, dea­ling with increa­sin­gly com­plex situa­tions, and respon­ding to a level of need that exis­ting capa­ci­ties can no lon­ger meet. A sys­tem that is increa­sin­gly being held toge­ther by front­line orga­ni­sa­tions and wor­kers who are alrea­dy hea­vi­ly mobilised.

The report also high­lights a struc­tu­ral issue that can­not be igno­red : more than 16,000 court deci­sions orde­ring the recep­tion of people have not been enfor­ced. The ten­sion bet­ween poli­ti­cal deci­sions and the legal fra­me­work has become visible, mea­su­rable, and docu­men­ted. This raises a direct ques­tion : what col­lec­tive gua­ran­tees are we still willing to defend ?

This 16-page dash­board (time­line of deci­sions, key figures, impacts on accom­mo­da­tion, heal­th­care, and access to rights) is not just ano­ther war­ning report. It is a tool : to unders­tand, and to debate.

The gap bet­ween needs and avai­lable res­ponses is wide­ning. This report shows it with pre­ci­sion. The ques­tion it raises, impli­cit­ly, remains unans­we­red : what place do we give to recep­tion in our society ?