The Flemish Refugee Council Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen believes the new measures taken by the Belgian secretary of state for asylum and migration Nicole De Moor (Flemish Christian democrat/CD&V) are illegal. Ms De Moor has decided Belgium will no longer provide board and accommodation for single men applying for asylum at least for the time being.
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“Disperse 5 asylum seekers to every municipality and the asylum crisis is sorted!”
Colin Clapson
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The junior minister wants to focus on families with children and avoid having children sleeping on the streets this winter. The Flemish Refugee Council - like the Human Rights League – has already condemned the decision. According to Director Tine Claus, the situation could have been predicted.
"There is a law on asylum reception. It provides for emergency measures. One could have seen this situation coming for a long time. The influx is always higher towards the end of the summer. We were aware of it. To fulfil our humanitarian obligations you could expect policymakers to take proactive action and introduce emergency measures like a dispersal plan," says Ms Claus.
"A policymaker should never subordinate humanitarian and legal obligations to the need she sees for future structural reforms. Otherwise, any legal certainty disappears." This decision is not legal, Ms Claus stresses. "Every person seeking protection in Belgium has a right to board and lodging," she says.
Ms Claus doesn't understand the government’s approach. "We saw a ‘clean-up’ operation last weekend. People are chasing homeless people (from the Brussels South Station neighbourhood) and at the same time this new asylum policy will create more homeless people. We cannot agree to that."
The Refugee Council says emergency measures have worked in the past. "In 2015, the then federal government used those emergency measures to ensure no one ever had to sleep on the streets." Ms Claus also makes the comparison with Austria. "There, there is a similar number of arrivals and they are perfectly capable of organising emergency accommodation."
What could emergency measures include? Ms Claus suggests: "The easiest one is to activate a dispersal plan involving local government, so that every municipality does its bit. It's really not about large numbers of people that need to be accommodated. We estimate 4-5 people per municipality and then this crisis is solved immediately."