Publication date: 27 March 2026
The report provides an in‑depth overview of Belgium’s status for smuggling victims, highlighting its objectives, legal framework, and practical implementation. It examines how the status is applied, who benefits from it, and the operational challenges encountered. The publication also identifies gaps in data collection and coordination between agencies. Finally, it offers evidence‑based recommendations to strengthen victim protection and improve the overall effectiveness of the system.
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Main theme: Smuggling & Trafficking
Publication Type: Report
Keywords: victim of smuggling, status, Belgium, victim protection
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On 9 April 2026, the European Court of Human Rights delivered its judgment in M.V. and Others v. Belgium and held that Belgium had violated several provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights in relation to the reception conditions of four applicants for international protection.
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Belgium and Algeria have signed two linked agreements, one on the readmission of irregularly staying Algerians and another providing a visa exemption for holders of Algerian diplomatic and service passports. The readmission agreement introduces measures to speed up identification, extend the validity of travel documents, allow the return of multiple individuals on the same flight, and permit the use of Algerian escorts during enforced returns.
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Main theme: Borders & Visa, Return & Readmission
Keywords: Belgium, Algeria, readmission agreement, visa exemption
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Belgium is advancing plans to consolidate its asylum and migration services under a single Federal Public Service (FPS) Migration. The initiative aims to create a unified administrative framework for managing asylum and migration processes. The governance model for the new service was approved by the Council of Ministers to structure its internal organisation.
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Main theme: Cross-sectional, Asylum, Migration
Keywords: Federal Public Service Migration, Belgium, coordination, centralisation
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On 27 March 2026, EMN Belgium participated in a seminar organised by Myria and the National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology (NICC) entitled "The status of victim of smuggling under the microscope", where the results of the research report on the practical application of this status were presented.
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Main theme: Irregular Migration
Keywords: human smuggling, legal status, residence permit, Belgium
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Belgian judicial and law enforcement authorities contributed to an operation targeting a criminal network supplying small boats for migrant crossings. Four high-level suspects were arrested in Germany and are expected to be extradited to Belgium for prosecution in Bruges. Searches in Germany and Belgium resulted in the seizure of boats, engines, life jackets, cash, and other equipment used in the smuggling activities.
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Main theme: Smuggling & Trafficking
Keywords: smuggling network, small boat, English channel, crossing, transit country, Belgium
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The Netherlands has decided to resume Dublin transfers of single, non-vulnerable male asylum seekers to Belgium, following a period in which such transfers were suspended after a Dutch court ruling. In April 2025, the District Court of The Hague, sitting in Groningen, found that single male asylum seekers risked being deprived of adequate reception conditions in Belgium, which could expose them to inhumane or degrading treatment. The ruling led to a halt in transfers under the EU Dublin system.
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Main theme: Reception, International Protection
Keywords: Dublin Regulation, Dublin transfer, Belgium, reception condition
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The Belgian Council of Ministers has taken note of a strategic vision for the reorganisation and centralisation of the federal administrative landscape. The plan foresees the regrouping of asylum and migration services under a dedicated Federal Public Service (FPS) Migration. The Council of Ministers has approved a timeline for the reorganisation and centralisation and has tasked the Minister for Public Administration with overseeing its implementation.
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Main theme: Cross-sectional, Asylum, Migration
Keywords: federal administration, Belgium, Federal Public Service Migration
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Belgium and Morocco have signed an agreement to strengthen cooperation across multiple areas, aiming for concrete and measurable results. The deal covers security, justice, economic development, and migration. Belgium has also committed to supporting Morocco’s autonomy proposal for Western Sahara, a region that has been at the centre of an international dispute for nearly fifty years.
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Main theme: Return & Readmission
Keywords: bilateral cooperation, Belgium, Morocco, irregularly staying third-country national
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Belgian Ministers of Justice and Asylum and Migration, Annelies Verlinden and Anneleen Van Bossuyt, visited Albania and Kosovo on 6–8 October 2025. Their discussions addressed migration management, prison overcrowding, and bilateral cooperation in justice and security. Meetings involved national authorities and highlighted ongoing collaboration between Belgium and the two countries.
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Main theme: Irregular Migration, Return & Readmission, Smuggling & Trafficking
Keywords: Belgium, Albania, Kosovo, cooperation, identification, forced return, detainee
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In the new agreement, partners of the federal coalition intend to control the influx of migrants and to move further towards controlled migration. They also emphasise the need to foster the integration of newcomers, inter alia through a binding newcomer's declaration, and to impose requirements in this regard on those who wish to obtain or maintain a right of permanent residence in Belgium.
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Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: federal coalition agreement, Belgium, controlled migration
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On 3 February 2025, Belgium's new Federal 'Arizona' Government was sworn in before King Philippe. Anneleen Van Bossuyt, from the New Flemish Alliance Party (Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie, N-VA), becomes Minister of Asylum and Migration, Social Integration and Urban Policy.
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Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: Minister of Asylum and Migration, Belgium
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The Charles de Visscher Center for International and European Law (CeDIE), in cooperation with the University of Luxemburg, organises a seminar on the "free movement of workers and citizens", on 12 October 2013 in Louvain-la-Neuve.