From today (Monday 4 August) Asylum seekers that have already been granted protection status in another European Union member state will no longer be entitled to asylum in Belgium. This is the result of measures introduced by the Federal Asylum and Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt (Flemish nationalist) a part of the Federal Government’s Easter Agreement.
In July, the Federal Parliament gave the green light to a number of measures that make it more difficult to apply for asylum here. The Asylum Minister referred to these as ‘crisis measures’. People that already enjoy protection after having lodged an asylum application and have been provided with a place in a reception facility in another EU country will no longer be able to be offered a place at a Belgian reception facility
Ms Van Bossuyt told journalists that “Asylum is about protection. Anyone who already been given protection elsewhere in Europe should not be allowed access to our asylum reception system. ‘Asylum shopping” must stop.” Last year, around 15,000 of the total of approximately 40,000 asylum applications submitted in Belgium were submitted by people that already been granted asylum elsewhere or by people whose applications are already pending in another EU country.
Accelerated processing and a stricter asylum and immigration policy
Cases of this nature are being processed more quickly by the office of Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGVS). This is also the case with regard to cases involving asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected in another EU country. New applications from people whose asylum requests have been rejected elsewhere in the EU are systematically classified as “not to be processed”.
Ms Van Bossuyt has said several times that a stricter approach will be taken in this regard. The rules regarding family reunification will also be tightened in the coming months. Under the new rules it will be impossible to make a new application for family reunification with a minor once an asylum request has been rejected.