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According to Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, 5.353 persons obtained Belgian nationality in January 2025. The main countries of origin of people who acquired Belgian nationality in January are Morocco, Romania, Syria, Italy and Turkey.
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Hoofdthema: Citizenship & Nationality
Trefwoorden: Belgian nationality, access to nationality
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On 11 April 2025, the Belgian Council of Ministers agreed on a package of crisis measures aimed at addressing key issues in the field of asylum and migration. The measures include limitations on reception for asylum seekers, restrictions on subsequent applications for international protection, stricter family reunification conditions, and the termination of integration income for asylum seekers. The four draft bills and the draft royal decree have been submitted to the Council of State for review.
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In a judgment issued on 11 April 2025, the District Court of The Hague, sitting in Groningen, found that single, non-vulnerable male asylum seekers face a real risk of being deprived of adequate reception facilities in Belgium, which could lead to inhumane or degrading treatment. This ruling follows previous decisions by Dutch judges who determined that Dublin transfers to Belgium could not be carried out due to insufficient guarantees of proper accommodation.
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Hoofdthema: Reception
Trefwoorden: Dublin Regulation, reception condition, reception crisis, inhuman or degrading treatment, Article 3 ECHR
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Last year, Fedasil’s mobile and multilingual Reach Out team provided information to 1.702 migrants in precarious situations in Brussels and Flanders. Representing more than 75 nationalities, these individuals received counselling on a wide range of topics, from international protection and reception to healthcare, employment, and voluntary return.
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Hoofdthema: Reception
Trefwoorden: migrant, precarious situation, Reach Out Team, counselling
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Een nooit eerder vertoonde internationale wetshandhavingsoperatie heeft geleid tot de ontmanteling van Kidflix, een van 's werelds grootste kindermisbruik platforms. Met de steun van Europol hebben autoriteiten uit meer dan 35 landen – waaronder België – gecoördineerde inspanningen geleverd om de website te sluiten en de daders te identificeren. Het platform had bijna twee miljoen geregistreerde gebruikers en faciliteerde de verspreiding van enorme hoeveelheden kindermisbruikmateriaal.
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Hoofdthema: Mensensmokkel & Mensenhandel
Trefwoorden: seksuele uitbuiting, seksueel kindermisbruik, gezamenlijke actiedag
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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.
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Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: dissuasion campaign, deterrence campaign
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The Minister for Asylum and Migration has decided to discontinue the Impuls Fund, which had been established to provide additional support to local authorities in covering the extra costs associated with opening new Local Reception Initiatives. The Minister will now move towards a more collective approach to reception, with existing Local Reception Initiatives being gradually phased out.
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Hoofdthema: Reception
Trefwoorden: reception crisis, local reception initiative, subsidy
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In the note submitted to the Chamber of Representatives, Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt described the current situation as operationally, financially, and socially untenable. She announced her intention to urgently submit, as an initial step, a package of crisis measures to address the ongoing asylum and reception crisis. Additionally, she outlined a broader range of measures covering key aspects, including asylum and reception, migration, the protection of vulnerable groups, return and security, the social welfare system, and access to Belgian nationality.
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Hoofdthema: Asylum, Migration
Trefwoorden: policy orientation paper, asylum policy, migration policy, asylum crisis, reception crisis
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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.
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Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: West Bank, refugee status, subsidiary protection status
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According to Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, 4.370 persons obtained Belgian nationality in December 2024. The main countries of origin of people who acquired Belgian nationality in December are Morocco, Syria, Romania, Afghanistan and France.
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Hoofdthema: Data & Statistics
Trefwoorden: access to nationality, Belgian nationality
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In 2024, 1.261 detainees were forcibly returned from Belgian prisons, down from 1.428 in 2023 and 1.511 in 2022, according to the Immigration Office. The most represented nationalities among those returned were Albanians, Moroccans, and Algerians. This decline comes amid ongoing challenges linked to prison overcrowding and changes in early-release policies.
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Hoofdthema: Return & Readmission
Trefwoorden: third country national, illegally staying person, detainee, prison, forced return
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Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Belgium has granted temporary protection to 93.343 Ukrainians, with a sharp decline beginning in 2023 and continuing into 2024 and early 2025. As the number of arrivals has slowed and the focus shifts to integration efforts, both the Flemish and Walloon governments plan to gradually reduce reception capacity for beneficiaries of temporary protection in the coming months.
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Hoofdthema: Statistieken, Tijdelijke bescherming
Trefwoorden: temporary protection, beneficiary of temporary protection, accommodation
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The Benelux countries and Suriname have agreed to facilitate the return of individuals in irregular situations from the Benelux or Suriname to their country of origin. Additionally, they have decided to grant visa-free travel for diplomats and government officials between the Benelux countries and Suriname.
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Hoofdthema: Return & Readmission
Trefwoorden: Benelux, readmission agreement, Suriname
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According to Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, 4.276 persons obtained Belgian nationality in November 2024. The main countries of origin of people who acquired Belgian nationality in November are Morocco, Syria, Romania, Afghanistan and Turkey.
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Hoofdthema: Data & Statistics
Trefwoorden: access to nationality, Belgian nationality
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Statbel has published demographic projections for 2024-2070 and concluded that Belgium’s population will reach 12.9 million by 2070. International migration will be the main driver of growth after 2038, as the natural balance turns negative by the end of the 2030s.
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Hoofdthema: Migration
Trefwoorden: population growth, natural balance, international migration balance, demographic growth
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Fedasil revealed that Belgium resettled 487 people in 2024, exceeding the 287 resettled in 2023. The refugees resettled in 2024 mainly came from countries such as Syria, Congo, Eritrea and Sudan.
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Hoofdthema: Reception
Trefwoorden: resettlement, resettled refugee
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In het nieuwe akkoord willen de federale coalitiepartners de instroom van migranten beheersen en streven naar gecontroleerde migratie. Ze benadrukken ook het belang van de integratie van nieuwkomers, onder andere via een bindende nieuwkomersverklaring, en stellen eisen aan degenen die permanent in België willen verblijven.
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Hoofdthema: Cross-sectionaal
Trefwoorden: regeerakkoord, België, gecontroleerde migratie
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Op 3 februari 2025 legde de nieuwe federale regering van België de eed af voor koning Filip. Anneleen Van Bossuyt van de Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA) is benoemd tot Minister van Asiel en Migratie, Maatschappelijke Integratie en Stedenbeleid in de zogenaamde “Arizona-coalitie”.
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Hoofdthema: Cross-sectionaal
Trefwoorden: Minister van Asiel en Migratie, België
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In 2024, Belgium saw a notable increase in the number of individuals choosing voluntary return to their country of origin. According to Fedasil’s press release from 3 February 2024, the total number of individuals opting for voluntary return rose by 11% compared to the previous year.
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Hoofdthema: Return & Readmission
Trefwoorden: voluntary return
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According to figures released by the Immigration Office, 20.724 decisions resulted in the granting of visas for family reunification in Belgium in 2024, compared to 18.738 in 2023 and 15.901 the year before. The increase concerns several categories, in particular family reunification with a refugee or beneficiary of subsidiary protection.
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Hoofdthema: Family reunification
Trefwoorden: family reunification visa, upward trend
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In a press release published on 27 January 2025, the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration announced that Belgian authorities could organise the forced return of Afghans to Istanbul and that partners on the ground could then take them to Afghanistan. This collaboration and the budgets for it still need to be finalised by a new government.
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Hoofdthema: Return & Readmission
Trefwoorden: forced return, Afghanistan
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According to a report commissioned by the governor of West Flanders, a total of 632 transmigrants were caught in the province in 2024, while in 2023 there were fewer than 400. The province's share of interceptions also went up. West Flanders accounted for about 70% of all transit migrants intercepted in Belgium in 2024, compared to around 50% in previous years.
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Hoofdthema: Smuggling & Trafficking
Trefwoorden: transmigrant, transit migrant, West Flanders
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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.
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Hoofdthema: International Protection
Trefwoorden: asylum applications, asylum decisions, asylum figures
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Met iets meer dan 239 000 gedetecteerde irreguliere grensovergangen naar de EU die in 2024 werden geregistreerd, meldt Frontex het laagste aantal irreguliere grensovergangen sinds 2021, maar waarschuwt voor veranderende dynamieken en evoluerende uitdagingen.
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Hoofdthema: Grenscontrole & Visa
Trefwoorden: irreguliere grensovergang
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According to Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, 5.140 persons obtained Belgian nationality in October 2024. The main countries of origin of people who acquired Belgian nationality in October are Morocco, Syria, Romania, Afghanistan and Italy.