Op 11-12 mei 2025 bezocht de Belgische Minister voor Asiel en Migratie Anneleen Van Bossuyt Chisinau om te benadrukken dat verzoeken om internationale bescherming van Moldavische staatsburgers—afkomstig uit een land dat als veilig wordt beschouwd—in België via een versnelde procedure worden verwerkt. Ze kondigde ook de onmiddellijke stopzetting van de terugkeerpremie aan, die door het kabinet wordt gezien als een stimulans voor misbruik van het asielsysteem.
Hoofdthema: Internationale bescherming, Irreguliere migratie
Trefwoorden: ongegronde asielaanvraag, Moldavie, veilige herkomstlanden, terugkeerpremie
On 23 April 2025, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) announced an extension of the suspension of the processing of applications for international protection from Syrian nationals. The suspension, initially introduced on 9 December 2024, will remain in place until at least the end of July 2025.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: application for international protection, Syria
The European Commission has issued a proposal to accelerate the implementation of certain aspects of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, with the aim of helping Member States process asylum claims more quickly, particularly for applicants whose claims are likely to be unfounded. In addition, the proposal includes the establishment of an EU-wide list of safe countries of origin. Human rights organisations have raised concerns, especially about the inclusion of Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco, which they argue have ongoing human rights issues.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: New Pact on Migration and Asylum, safe country of origin, list of safe countries of origin, safe third country
Recent data requested by Green party MP Matti Vandemaele from the Minister for Asylum and Migration, Anneleen Van Bossuyt (N-VA), indicate a notable increase in the time taken to process applications for international protection. This trend has implications for applicants, who remain in prolonged uncertainty, and for the national reception system, which continues to face significant pressure.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: application for international protection, processing time, backlog, reception centre
The Belgian Minister of Asylum and Migration, Anneleen Van Bossuyt, has launched dissuasion campaigns on YouTube and via a WhatsApp channel that directly disseminates deterrence messages to potential asylum seekers. Several organisations have reacted to these campaigns, particularly criticising the messages conveyed by them.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: dissuasion campaign, deterrence campaign
On 12 March 2025, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) announced that it would temporarily suspend the notification of decisions granting subsidiary protection, refusing refugee status and refusing subsidiary protection status from applicants from the West Bank until they have access to sufficient objective information to accurately assess the general situation in the West Bank.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: West Bank, refugee status, subsidiary protection status
The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) has released its annual analysis of asylum trends in 2024. The EU+ received approximately 1.014 million asylum applications, reflecting an 11% decrease compared to 2023. This decrease concentrated in the second half of the year as the application trend deviated from the typical seasonal pattern.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: asylum trend, asylum applications, nationality, destination country
Een recent rapport van het Asielagentschap van de Europese Unie (EUAA), dat jurisprudentie van 2020-2024 analyseert, benadrukt dat beslissingen van EU- en nationale rechtbanken nationale praktijken sturen naar een meer gendergevoelige benadering van internationale bescherming.
Hoofdthema: Internationale bescherming
Trefwoorden: gendergerelateerde vervolging, geslacht, lid van een bepaalde sociale groep, grond voor vervolging
On 16 January 2025, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) released asylum statistics for the whole year 2024. According to the figures, 39.615 persons, mainly from Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Turkey, applied for international protection in Belgium. The Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration stressed that a large number of these applicants were already registered in another Member State.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: asylum applications, asylum decisions, asylum figures
As of 9 December 2024, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons will temporarily suspend processing cases of applicants originating from Syria. Planned personal interviews will be cancelled and assessments will be temporarily put on hold.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: application for international protection, Syria
The Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration has announced that she would use all possible means to reduce the number of applications from persons who already have protection in another EU Member State. She intends to oppose the Council for Aliens Law Litigation's rulings leading to the admissibility of these applications and the recognition of a protected status.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: applicant for international protection, refugee, protection status
Op 7 november 2024 kwam de 'High-Level Committee on Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission' voor het eerst bijeen. Het comité zal de Europese Commissie ondersteunen bij het opstellen van het tweejaarlijkse EU-plan, waarin het aantal vluchtelingen wordt vastgesteld dat in de EU zal worden toegelaten, evenals de landen en regio’s vanwaar hervestiging en toelating op humanitaire gronden moeten plaatsvinden.
Hoofdthema: Internationale bescherming
Trefwoorden: hervestiging, humanitaire toelating, EU-kaderverordening, Nieuw Pact inzake Migratie en Asiel
Nicole de Moor said that applications relating to 859 persons have already been processed in accelerated procedure since February 2024. In 96 % of cases, applicants were not granted protection status. Ms de Moor wants to focus more on prevention to prevent people who do not need protection from applying for international protection in Belgium.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: application for international protection, accelerated procedure, safe country of origin, fast-track procedure
As of 24 October 2024, the centre for registering applications for international protection is located at rue Belliard 68 in 1000 Brussels. Applications can still be registered in the Pacheco building until Wednesday, 23 October 2024.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: applicant for international protection, registration, registration centre
In a recent judgement in Case C‑134/23, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) clarified that Article 38 of Directive 2013/32/EU does not preclude legislation of a Member State designating a third country as generally safe for certain categories of applicants for international protection, even if that third country has suspended, in general terms and without any prospect of a contrary development, the admission or readmission of those applicants to its territory.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: applicant for international protection, safe third country, Turkey, readmission
In a recent judgement, the Court of Justice of the European Union concluded that some of the discriminatory measures against women in Afghanistan, namely forced marriage and the lack of protection against gender-based violence and domestic violence, must be classified alone as "acts of persecution" and that other measures, taken as a whole, given their cumulative effect and the fact that they are applied deliberately and systematically, constitute such acts.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: Afghan woman, act of persecution, gender, nationality
The Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGVS) announced on 2 October 2024 that the notification of decisions granting or refusing subsidiary protection status to applicants from Lebanon is suspended until the CGRS has sufficient objective information to assess the security situation in Lebanon.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: applicant for international protection, Lebanon, refugee status, subsidiary protection status
On 1 October 2024, Nicole de Moor stated that proportionally speaking, more Palestinian applicants for international protection come to Belgium than to other European Member States. She also confirmed that the protection rate for Palestinian applicants had increased in recent years.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: Palestinian, applicant for international protection, New Pact on Migration and Asylum
The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) released the latest asylum trends for the first half of 2024. By June 2024, EU countries had received 513.000 applications for international protection. While the figure remained stable compared to the first six months of 2023, some changes occurred at the national level.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: application for international protection, asylum trend, asylum recognition rate
Cindy Ngamba, a 25-year-old Cameroonian refugee living in the United Kingdom, won the bronze medal in the boxing discipline at the Paris Olympics. She is the first athlete in any sport to secure a medal while representing the refugee team.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: Olympic Games, boxing, refugee olympic team
Op 9 juli publiceerden bijna 100 NGO’s, waaronder ECRE en verschillende ECRE-lidorganisaties, een gezamenlijke verklaring waarin ze alle EU-lidstaten oproepen om het recht om asiel aan te vragen te garanderen en hun verplichtingen ten aanzien van het internationale vluchtelingenbeschermingssysteem na te komen.
Hoofdthema: Internationale bescherming
Trefwoorden: verzoek om internationale bescherming, uitbesteding, externalisering
The Immigration Office disclosed a new website aimed at informing applicants for international protection about the purpose and course of the registration. Each step of the process is explained in 16 languages via texts, audio, and videos. The website was co-funded by the European Union.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: registration, application for international protection
On 13 June 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union released its judgment in the case C-563/22 involving a stateless Palestinian mother and her child, registered with UNRWA, who left the Gaza strip to seek protection in Bulgaria. In this case, the Court provided guidance on the interpretation of Article 12(1)(a) of Directive 2011/95/EU and of Article 40(1) of Directive 2013/32/EU.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: refugee status, exclusion, Palestinian, UNRWA, stateless persons, subsequent application
In case C-646/21, the Court of Justice of the European Union clarified that women, including minors, who share as a common characteristic the fact that they genuinely come to identify with the fundamental value of equality between women and men during their stay in a Member State may be regarded as belonging to ‘a particular social group’, constituting a ‘reason for persecution’ capable of leading to the recognition of refugee status.
Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: refugee status, reasons for persecution, membership of a particular social group, best interests of the child
The list of safe countries of origin, which is revised once a year, was updated on 12 May 2024 and is now published in Belgium’s Official Journal. At present, the following countries are considered as safe countries of origin: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, India and Moldova.