The list of asylum seekers waiting for a place in an asylum reception centre in Belgium has fallen in recent months. This is the first fall in the number of asylum seekers waiting for a place in quite a long time. According to figures from the Federal Secretary of State responsible for asylum and migration Nicole De Moor (Flemish Christian democrat) there are now fewer than 3,000 people on the waiting list.
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Asylum centre waiting lists fall to below 3,000
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Ms De Moor attributes the decrease to a combination of a higher outflow from reception centres (1,200 in recent months) and a slightly lower influx of new asylum applicants. The Federal Secretary of State says several factors have led to contributed to this. New procedures have meant that asylum seekers that are able to stand on their own two feet because they have a job have left the centres in numbers since last December. In December 2022 90 asylum seekers were able to leave asylum reception centres for this reason. During the first months of this year this figure was 253.
In addition to this, there is now a stricter follow-up procedure for people that have been in an asylum reception centre for more than 3 years. The aim is to speed up those procedures so that they can leave more quickly and free up space for those waiting for a place. 896 people have left asylum reception centres across Belgium as a result of the new procedures since January.
Ms De Moor also points to the effect of the recruitment of extra employees at the office of Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS). Since last summer, more than 70 additional employees have been recruited. The extra staff and the faster procedures also more applications can be processed. The number of decisions on asylum applications has risen in recent months to 2,677 in March and 2,463 in April. This compares with an average of 2,000 in 2022.