On 5 June 2024, a consortium of humanitarian and civil society organizations (Doctors Without Borders, Doctors of the World, CIRÉ, Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen, BelRefugees, Caritas International, and the Humanitarian Hub) published a third report on the "policy of non-reception" in Belgium. This document, which covers the period from October 2023 to March 2024, denounces the normalisation of the reception crisis.

According to this report:

• The number of people waiting for reception increased from 2.638 in October 2023 to 3.800 at the end of March 2024.
   
• The deadlines for reintegrating the reception network are between six and nine months.
   
• Many squats are opening in Brussels. These are extremely precarious places of accommodation where different audiences mingle.
   
• The most recurring reasons for medical consultation of applicants for international protection are requests for accommodation or diagnoses linked to homelessness and precarious living conditions such as skin, respiratory and dental diseases.
   
• The number of families on the street has increased significantly. Several closures of family centers in the Fedasil network and the regional emergency network, effective and planned during the period, contributed to this increase.

The seven organisations recommend inter alia to:

• In the short term: temporarily shelter people, particularly in hotels or in additional emergency reception places.
   
• In the medium term: facilitate exit from the reception network by issuing a residence permit to people who have been in the reception network for years and to people who cannot be removed in order to free up places in reception centers.
   
• In the long term: increase the total capacity of the Fedasil reception network and provide a reception place for all beneficiaries that is adapted to their needs and vulnerabilities.

For further details, please read the following press release (including a link to upload the report) in French or in Dutch.