Annual Report on Migration and Asylum in Belgium

This Annual Report on Migration and Asylum provides an overview of the key developments in Belgium throughout 2022. The Report highlights inter alia the following key elements:

• Overarching asylum and migration developments: In 2022, an increased inflow of applicants for international protection, in conjunction with a reduced outflow, created extreme pressure on the reception network of the Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Fedasil).
   
• Responses to the influx of persons fleeing the war in Ukraine: In 2022, 63 356 persons fleeing Ukraine received a temporary protection status which entitled them to, inter alia, access to the labour market, housing and social and medical aid.
   
• Legal migration: At the federal level, an amendment to the Immigration Act was adopted to allow for a broader category of people to apply for a single permit. As of 30 December 2022, persons with a legal short-term residence permit or a long-term residence permit can apply for a single permit, making it easier for persons to apply from the Belgian territory.
   
• International protection: In 2022, a total of 36 871 individuals applied for international protection in Belgium, but many applicants were not able to register immediately. Access to the procedure was severely hampered and judgments ordering the State to provide access were rendered.
   
• Reception: Despite efforts, the shortage of reception places persisted and had important legal and humanitarian consequences. The Belgian State and Fedasil were convicted numerous times for their inability to provide reception, and human rights and civil society organisations consistently raised concerns about the situation of applicants for international protection left without reception.
   
• Integration and inclusion: In the framework of its integration policy, the Flemish Government launched the Plan ‘Living Together’, which aims to support local governments to promote living together in diversity. Across the country, other initiatives were taken to foster opportunities for local communities to interact with migrants, in an effort to promote a more inclusive approach to migrant integration, as well as to fight racism and discrimination.
   
• Citizenship and statelessness: The Belgian Nationality Code was amended to introduce a series of important changes relating to stateless children (Article 10). For example, it is now legally established that recognition as a stateless person is not required to grant Belgian nationality to a child born in Belgium without nationality.
   
• Borders, Schengen and visas: In 2022, the Federal Police and the Immigration Office continued to prepare for the upcoming Entry/Exit System (EES), along with other developments related to digital border management systems such as the Schengen Information System (SIS) and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS).
   
• Irregular migration including migrant smuggling: In 2022, several dissuasion campaigns to discourage irregular migration and combat false rumours were initiated or continued, targeted at Albanians, Filipinos, Moldovans and Georgians.
   
• Trafficking in human beings: In February 2022, a special Parliamentary Commission was set up to evaluate the legislation and policies on trafficking and smuggling. A major case of labour exploitation in the construction sector was investigated in the second half of 2022 – the so-called Borealis case – involving a vast number of presumed victims of trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation.
   
• Informing and guiding irregularly staying migrants towards long-term solutions: In 2022, Fedasil initiated small-scale Shelter and Orientation projects for homeless migrants who have been living in an irregular situation for a prolonged period.
   
• Return and readmission: In 2022, the number of assisted voluntary returns increased markedly. An agreement was reached to build new detention facilities (‘closed centres’) for the organisation of forced return.
   
• Migration and development: In early 2022, the Belgian Directorate-General for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid (DGD) of the Federal Public Service (FPS) Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation published a new Strategic Note on migration as a lever for development.

For more detailed information and many other developments at Belgian level, please read the full annual report on migration and asylum in Belgium attached above.

Annual Report on Migration and Asylum in the EU 

This Annual Report on Migration and Asylum provides an overview of the key developments in the contributing EMN Member and Observer Countries throughout 2022. The Report highlights inter alia the following key elements:

• The Russian war against Ukraine commencing on 24 February, stood out as the most significant occurrence of the year. As a result, on 4 March 2022, the Temporary Protection Directive was activated for the first time in over two decades since its adoption, offering immediate protection and a standardized set of rights. To date, there have been more than four million registrations for temporary protection in the EU and Schengen Associated Countries, with more than three million registrations recorded during the first half of 2022.
   
• 2022 saw a significant rise in asylum applications, with approximately 966,000 applications, representing an increase of about 50% compared to 2021 and the highest number since 2016.
   
• Irregular border crossings reached approximately 330,000 incidents, marking a 64% increase compared to the previous year.
   
• These developments created a strain on the asylum systems and reception capacities of both Member States and Norway.
   
• Sustained and heightened pressures were observed at the external borders of the Mediterranean countries, along the Western Balkan route, and at the EU's borders with Belarus. The amplified migratory flows, coupled with the conflict in Ukraine, raised concerns regarding security implications and the subsequent risks of migrant smuggling and cross-border criminal activities. Consequently, several EU Member States strengthened their border control measures.
   
• The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic receded in 2022. This allowed for the lifting of travel restrictions and return operations could resume.
   
• Attracting and retaining qualified workers remained a top priority for EMN Member and Observer Countries in 2022. Throughout the year, the identification of labour shortages and bottlenecks highlighted the ongoing need for reforms to enhance the recruitment of skilled individuals and improve the management of legal migration. At EU level, the European Commission launched the 'Skills and Talents Package' aimed at attracting talent and to facilitate the EU’s transition to a green and digital economy, as well as the Talent Pool Pilot facilitating job-matching for Ukrainians as a first stage. Several EU Member States implemented Skills Mobility Partnerships to promote sustainable approaches to skilled migration and mobility. Similarly, Georgia, as an EMN Observer Country, adopted a new development strategy that prioritizes labour migration facilitation and the strengthening of its diaspora abroad to enhance the country's development.

The EMN Annual Report on Migration and Asylum 2022 covers the situation in the EU Member States, Norway, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Armenia in 2022. It provides an overview of key developments and cross-cutting themes in all areas of migration and asylum, set in the context of statistics developed by Eurostat. A more detailed Statistical Annex prepared by Eurostat is published alongside the Annual Report.