The ECHR has once again found Belgium guilty of degrading treament of asylum-seekers, failing to provide housing and basic material assistance. Fedasil staff held a one-day strike this week in protest at the “daily violations”
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Belgium must pay damages to four asylum-seekers, says European Court of Human Rights
Lisa Bradshaw
Published:
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled in favour of four asylum-seekers who claimed that Belgium violated the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to meet their basic needs. The plaintiffs involved (from Angola, China, Guinea and Cameroon) will receive compensation ranging from €5,000 to €12,350.
During the period 2022–2023, they applied for international protection but were forced to live on the streets for months— in one case nearly a year—despite a ruling by the French-speaking Labour Court of Brussels ordering the Belgian State to provide housing and material assistance.
Much needed reforms have been implemented, ensuring that reception places are available for those entitled to them
Migration minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt
The ECHR ruled that Belgium violated Europe’s fundamental rights around inhuman or degrading treatment as the asylum-seekers lived on the streets “without the means to meet their basic needs, even during the winter”.
In addition, the Court found a breach of the right to a fair trial because those concerned had to wait an “unreasonably” long time for the implementation of the measures that had been ordered.
The ECHR has already condemned Belgium more than 10,000 times for similar complaints, but the responsible ministers have repeatedly disregarded those rulings. In response to this latest judgement, federal migration minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt (N-VA) said that the facts date to 2022, “a previous legislative term in which we were not involved.”
Open letter from Fedasil
She noted that “much needed reforms have been implemented, ensuring that sufficient reception places are available for those entitled to them.”
Fedasil, the Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers, disagrees, going on strike earlier this week against working conditions. Last week in an open letter to Van Bossuyt they indicated that they do no want to bear responsibility for the consequences of the minister’s policies and want to distance themselves “from the daily violations of the rule of law and of human dignity, both with regard to the asylum-seekers and the staff under your supervision.”