Belgian court halts decision denying housing to single male asylum seekers

Belgium’s Council of State suspended on Wednesday the decision by Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor to temporarily suspend the reception of single men by the Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Fedasil).

At the end of August, de Moor (CD&V/EPP) announced Fedasil would temporarily no longer provide reception places for single-male asylum seekers to prioritise families and “avoid children ending up on the streets this winter”.

The announcement was heavily criticised among Belgian political parties – even her own – and asylum-seeker organisations.

Still, it also raised eyebrows at the EU level, with the European Commission even indicating that it would contact Belgian authorities about the proposal.

EU countries can prioritise asylum applications under certain circumstances as long as they are examined “before other, previously made applications” and as long as it is done “ without derogating from normally applicable procedural time limits, principles and guarantees”, the Commission’s spokesperson for Home Affairs, Migration and Home Security recalled at the press briefing.

Eventually, last week, eight associations lodged an urgent appeal with the Council of State against the decision.

This Wednesday, the Council of State ruled that the decision was unlawful and violates asylum seekers’ right to reception. The current crisis was not a reason for this decision.

The ruling was no surprise for de Moor, who told Het Nieuwsblad on Tuesday that cancelling her decision would not solve the crowded reception centres problem.

“The suspension [of the measure] by the Council of State does not ensure that we suddenly have room for everyone,” de Moor said on X, formerly Twitter, adding that she wouldn’t change her policy and give “absolute priority to families and children”.

“The Council of State is not a think tank, but a judicial body. Nicole de Moor has a very difficult task, but she crosses a line with this tweet. You can certainly expect members of government to respect […] the rule of law,” Federal parliament deputy Kristof Calvo (Groen/Greens-EFA) commented.

In De Morgen, journalist Bart Eeckhout wrote that the fact that a government member decided to disregard a ruling should “set off all alarm bells in a constitutional state”.

Meanwhile, the government’s search for additional reception places continues.

In March, the Belgian government announced a new Migration deal, which notably provided additional reception places and doubled the number of forced returns to free up space in reception centres.

But, for a long-term solution, the State Secretary has repeatedly expressed that she was counting on the EU’s Migration and Asylum deal to solve the reception crisis in Belgium.

In a press release, she reacted to Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the European Union speech and said she was “satisfied with the European Commission’s commitment to realising the European Migration Pact”.

In particular, the State Secretary recalled her personal active work at the EU level and added that she hoped the Pact would be implemented during the Belgian Presidency in the first half of next year.

She also said the Pact would allow for stronger control of the external borders and that asylum seekers from countries with a “low approval rate” would have their files processed in a rapid border procedure.

Another crucial feature of the Pact will be the mandatory distribution of asylum seekers mechanism between member states.

In line with von der Leyen’s view, de Moor favours more agreements with third countries, such as the one with Tunisia.

The State Secretary reiterated her support for an approach that involves cooperation covering migration and other topics to create a better life for people in those countries, notably via education or employment.

“We must take control of migration into our own hands and not leave it to human smugglers. Only in this way can we fundamentally solve the asylum crisis in our country. […] We are strengthening control over our external borders, we are counting on all member states, and we will be able to provide better protection than today to those fleeing war or persecution. I will make this my priority during the presidency.”

At the beginning of June, EU countries agreed on the Pact.

The European Parliament also previously established a position on the text, allowing for interinstitutional negotiations or so-called trilogues, which are currently ongoing.

(Nina Chabot & Anne-Sophie Gayet | Euractiv.com)