Myria, the Federal Migration Centre, releases the 2024 annual report “Migration in figures and rights” in several thematic notebooks. On 28 November 2024, Myria published the fifth thematic section entitled "International protection", which presents an in-depth analysis of the figures and addresses some key issues in international protection in 2023 and 2024.

One chapter carefully examines the new residence procedure for stateless persons in Belgium. The Federal Migration Centre stresses that the new procedure has advantages, but these are subject to numerous conditions that many stateless persons will not be able to meet. For example, the law provides that the Immigration Office refuses to consider a request if the foreigner “cannot demonstrate that he previously had either a legal stay of more than three months or a stay covered as an applicant for international protection". According to UNHCR, such a requirement would be particularly inequitable since the lack of nationality specifically prevents many stateless persons from possessing the documents that are necessary to enter or reside legally in a State. 

Myria also notes that the law contains differences in treatment between stateless persons and refugees that are poorly justified. For example, the law provides that the Immigration Office or the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons “may, at each stage of the procedure, hear the foreigner”. However, this interview is not obligatory, although it is, in principle, systematic in the asylum procedure. This means that a stateless person may be refused a stay without having been heard, either by the Immigration Office, which takes the decision or by the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons, which issues a reasoned opinion.

The Federal Migration Centre recommends removing disproportionate conditions for obtaining a residence permit as a stateless person and harmonising the statuses and procedural guarantees with refugees, in particular by providing for a right to an individual interview and a suspensive and full litigation appeal.

For further information, please read the press release from Myria in French or in Dutch, and for all the details, please read the full thematic section attached below.