Press release 01/10/2025

Today, seven orga­ni­za­tions, inclu­ding huma­ni­ta­rian groups, are publi­shing the fifth edi­tion of their Bel­gian report on the “non-recep­tion” poli­cy and its harm­ful conse­quences for asy­lum see­kers in Bel­gium. The report high­lights how Belgium’s unlaw­ful poli­cy of refu­sing recep­tion to asy­lum see­kers has ente­red a new and alar­ming phase in 2025, with recent govern­ment mea­sures fur­ther res­tric­ting access to recep­tion faci­li­ties and essen­tial ser­vices for those see­king inter­na­tio­nal protection.

Méde­cins Sans Fron­tières, Méde­cins du Monde, Vluch­te­lin­gen­werk Vlaan­de­ren, CIRÉ, Bel­Re­fu­gees, Cari­tas Inter­na­tio­nal, and the Huma­ni­ta­rian Hub denounce Belgium’s poli­cy of non-recep­tion and its nega­tive impact on asy­lum see­kers in our coun­try. This poli­cy does not resolve the huma­ni­ta­rian cri­sis — it ins­ti­tu­tio­na­lizes it. The recent sta­te­ment by Minis­ter Van Bos­suyt clai­ming that no asy­lum see­ker is slee­ping on the streets is sim­ply untrue, as these seven orga­ni­za­tions can attest on a dai­ly basis.

Download the report

A systematic policy of non-reception

Des­pite over 15,000 condem­na­tions by natio­nal and inter­na­tio­nal courts, the Bel­gian fede­ral govern­ment is dou­bling down on its unlaw­ful stra­te­gy of sys­te­ma­tic exclu­sion, making it the most res­tric­tive migra­tion poli­cy in the country’s his­to­ry. Thou­sands remain home­less without access to heal­th­care or social support.

Mea­sures taken by the new “Ari­zo­na” coa­li­tion govern­ment, for­med in Janua­ry 2025, include redu­cing the num­ber of recep­tion places, sys­te­ma­ti­cal­ly exclu­ding cer­tain groups (in par­ti­cu­lar single men and asy­lum see­kers gran­ted pro­tec­tion sta­tus in ano­ther EU coun­try, known as “M sta­tus”), and the com­plete eli­mi­na­tion of social ser­vices for many asy­lum seekers.

These changes, adop­ted by Par­lia­ment in July and in force since August, have never­the­less been wide­ly cri­ti­ci­zed by the Coun­cil of State, the UN Refu­gee Agen­cy (UNHCR), and nume­rous civil socie­ty organizations.

Humanitarian impact : thousands left without shelter or care

The conse­quences are devas­ta­ting. The Bel­gian govern­ment is bla­tant­ly dis­re­gar­ding its legal res­pon­si­bi­li­ties, with heart­brea­king effects in key areas :

• Hou­sing : Fewer than 1 in 10 (9%) asy­lum see­kers using the Huma­ni­ta­rian Hub in Brus­sels are accom­mo­da­ted in a Feda­sil cen­ter. The vast majo­ri­ty sleep on the streets, in emer­gen­cy shel­ters, or in squats, with wai­ting times for emer­gen­cy hou­sing often lon­ger than the stay itself.
• Heal­th­care : Access to medi­cal care is seve­re­ly res­tric­ted. Huma­ni­ta­rian orga­ni­za­tions report that near­ly 9 in 10 (88%) home­less asy­lum see­kers suf­fer from health pro­blems direct­ly lin­ked to pre­ca­rious living condi­tions, inclu­ding skin diseases, res­pi­ra­to­ry infec­tions, and untrea­ted pain.
• Men­tal health : Psy­cho­lo­gi­cal well­being is gra­ve­ly impac­ted. A large majo­ri­ty of asy­lum see­kers seek help for severe dis­tress, with wides­pread cases of post-trau­ma­tic stress disor­der, depres­sion, and anxie­ty. Spe­cia­li­zed care is lar­ge­ly inaccessible.
• Legal and social sup­port : Home­less asy­lum see­kers often lack even basic infor­ma­tion about their rights and face com­plex pro­ce­dures without legal assistance.

Unaccompanied minors in distress

Unac­com­pa­nied minors are espe­cial­ly vul­ne­rable. Many avoid offi­cial shel­ters due to mis­trust of autho­ri­ties, lea­ding to over­crow­ding in alter­na­tive refuges and increa­sed expo­sure to high-risk envi­ron­ments. Medi­cal stu­dies reveal high levels of mal­nu­tri­tion and health issues among these minors.

A call for immediate action

The government’s sta­ted goal of making Bel­gium less “attrac­tive” to asy­lum see­kers has only dee­pe­ned hard­ship and entren­ched a huma­ni­ta­rian crisis.

Civil socie­ty orga­ni­za­tions, the Coun­cil of State, the UNHCR, and the Coun­cil of Europe have all cal­led for urgent action, including :

• Uphol­ding the right to recep­tion and a digni­fied life, as ensh­ri­ned in inter­na­tio­nal and Bel­gian law ;
• A signi­fi­cant increase in recep­tion capacity ;
• Main­tai­ning social sup­port sys­tems for asy­lum seekers.

Conclusion

The cur­rent poli­cy of non-recep­tion is unac­cep­table. As long as people are left on the streets and court rulings remain unen­for­ced, Bel­gium will conti­nue to deli­be­ra­te­ly vio­late its legal and moral obli­ga­tions. It is time to end this deter­rence poli­cy against asy­lum see­kers and to imple­ment a recep­tion sys­tem that is humane, digni­fied, and rights-based.