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 2023. The Report highlights inter alia the following key elements:

• Overarching asylum and migration developments: In March 2023, a package of four legislative reforms related to family reunification, reception, statelessness, and return were approved by the Council of Ministers. 
   
• Legal migration: Belgium adapted some of its practices regarding family reunification, notably in response to the CJEU ruling in the Afrin case, where Member States were invited to show the necessary flexibility by permitting, in particular, the use of remote means of communication to apply for family reunification. 
   
• International protection and reception: The saturation of the reception network persisted throughout 2023. Measures were taken to increase reception capacity to accelerate the outflow from the reception network of individuals who have been accommodated for more than three years.
   
• Temporary protection and other measures in response to persons fleeing the war in Ukraine: Given the decrease in the number of beneficiaries of temporary protection in 2023, the focus shifted to their access to long-term accommodation, access to the labour market, education and medical care.
   
• Unaccompanied minors and other vulnerable groups: Fedasil took measures to increase the reception capacity for unaccompanied minors by 316 additional places in 2023. Measures were also taken to speed up the identification of unaccompanied minors, as well as the appointment of guardians.
   
• Integration and inclusion of migrants: In the Brussels-Capital Region, a bilingual (French-Dutch) civic integration programme entered into force, implemented by the bi-communitarian entity ‘Common Community Commission’ (COCOM).
   
• Citizenship and statelessness: A ruling by the Constitutional Court eases the language requirements for applicants for Belgian citizenship who are illiterate. 
   
• Borders, visa and Schengen: In the first quarter of 2023, Belgian consular posts in Turkey and Morocco blocked the issuance of economic migration visas due to suspicions of fraudulent applications.
   
• Irregular migration: The Federal Police launched an information campaign called “Together in the Fight Against Human Trafficking – Help Save Lives” (Small Boat Campaign) to prevent dangerous and irregular crossings by migrants across the English Channel.
   
• Trafficking in human beings: In June 2023, a National Operational Coordinator for human trafficking and smuggling was officially appointed to develop a crisis plan for situations where a large number of trafficking victims are discovered in Belgium and where existing reception capacities are overwhelmed.
   
• Informing and guiding irregularly staying migrants towards long-term solutions: In 2023, Fedasil established integrated information points, or ‘one-stop desks’ as central hubs for accessing information, guidance, and referrals to essential services such as medical care and homelessness shelters.
   
• Return and readmission: Fedasil intensified its efforts to facilitate voluntary returns, including through the Frontex Application for Return (FAR) and its own voluntary return programme. This led to 3 107 individuals voluntarily returning to their country of origin, reflecting a 13 % increase compared to 2022.
   
• Migration and development: In 2023, development cooperation actors in Belgium launched, continued, or ended several mobility projects with partner countries. For example in May 2023, Enabel officially launched the Project for Entrepreneurial Mobility between Côte d’Ivoire and Belgium (PEM-N’Zassa).

For more detailed information and many other developments at the 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 Report produced by the European Migration Network, together with the Statistical Annex developed by Eurostat, outlines the most significant legal and policy developments and statistical trends that occurred in 2023 at European Union (EU) level, across EMN Member (EU Member States except Denmark) and Observer Countries, including Norway, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, and Serbia and statistical inputs provided by Armenia and Montenegro. 

The Report highlights inter alia the following key elements:

• At EU-level, the most significant development in 2023 was the political agreement reached in December by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU on the Pact on Migration and Asylum, which was thereafter adopted in 2024.
   
• First-time applications for asylum increased overall across the EU in 2023, exceeding one million applications, a level not seen since 2016. EMN Member Countries responded by adopting measures to increase efficiency of asylum procedures and alleviate pressure on reception capacities.
   

• 2023 was also marked by an increase in irregular migration directed to the EU, with approximately 380.000 detected illegal border crossings, a 17% increase from 2022. This increase prompted EMN Member Countries to strengthen border management and adopt new measures to combat migrant smuggling and prevent irregular migration.  
   

• Amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine, the EU extended temporary protection for displaced persons from Ukraine until March 2025. Temporary protection was prolonged again in 2024 until March 2026. Further efforts were directed to integration measures, including housing, education, and labour market access, to support displaced persons from Ukraine. 
   

• In alignment with the EU-wide Entry/Exit System and the European Interoperability Framework, several countries advanced digitalisation efforts notably with new visa application procedures and digitalised residence permit issuance.
   

• Attracting and retaining talent to meet labour market needs remained a key priority for most EMN Member and Observer Countries. Many governments introduced policies to simplify admission procedures for various workers, particularly those highly skilled or in shortage occupations. Measures to facilitate the mobility and stay of students and researchers were also widely pursued. 
   

• EMN Member Countries continued to address racism and discrimination, protecting victims of trafficking, unaccompanied minors, and other vulnerable groups, including LGBTIQ. 
   

• In 2023, most EMN Member and Observer Countries established and/or strengthened international partnerships with third countries. Cooperation revolved around all major aspects of migration, ranging from the prevention of irregular migration (including border management) and return and readmission to legal and circular migration, mobility of students and researchers, and international protection.

For further details, please read the full EU report attached above, as well as the Statistical Annex for additional data and trends. For more concise information, you can also find the Inform and 2-pager attached above.