Accommodation for single male asylum seekers suspended

Nicole de Moor, Minister of State for Immigration and Asylum in the Belgian government, announced that they have suspended the accommodation provided to single male asylum seekers in reception centers.
De Moor cited the expectation of a large increase in the number of families with children who will go to asylum reception centers in the coming winter months. Stating that they will give priority to families with children, De Moor stated that they want to prevent children from being left on the street.

De Moor also pointed out that Belgium has done more than its fair share in terms of asylum seekers for a long time, that 19,000 asylum applications were received this year and that countries like Portugal or Sweden accept far fewer asylum applications compared to Belgium. .

REACTING TO THE DECISION ON ASYLUM…

Left-wing coalition partners of the Belgian government and non-governmental organizations working for the rights of asylum seekers reacted to the decision on single asylum seekers.
The Minister of Economy and Labor of the Socialist Party, Pierre-Yves Dermagne, stated that the coalition partners were not consulted during the decision making and that it was contrary to international agreements and the law.

Alain Maron, one of the ministers of the Brussels regional government, said that after the government’s decision, many more people will remain on the streets of the capital, Brussels.

Alexis Deswaef, Vice President of the International Federation for Human Rights, said they found it incredible that a member of the government would not enforce the law, recalling that the Belgian government’s practices towards asylum seekers were repeatedly unfair both by the courts Belgians and by the European Courts of Human Rights.

Deswaef, who is also a co-chair of the Refugee Support Platform, stated that this practice is a violation of the law and means ignoring the power of the law.

Hundreds of asylum seekers lived on the streets for weeks in the cold and rain, while the shelters of the Fedasil asylum seeker institution in Belgium were full during the winter months. The government increased the capacity of shelters after these images in the center of Brussels, considered “the heart of Europe”, provoked reactions. (AA)