Government Reception Plan with Main Focus on Restrictions and Return as Asylum Seekers and Activists Take Matters into Their Own Hands
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Loading... - Sofia Castro
- 29 Mar 2023
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As the reception crisis continues, the government has launched a plan with a main focus on restrictions. Meanwhile, asylum seekers and activists have taken matters into their own hands occupying a building set to house the National Crisis Center.
The ongoing reception crisis in the Belgian capital of Brussels continues to leave asylum seekers without shelter and sleeping rough. According to Belgium’s asylum agency, Fedasil the number of “homeless” asylum seekers reached between 2,000 and 3,000 by early March. As of late January 2023, the federal government had been convicted by the Labour Court more than 6,000 times for failing to provide accommodation to asylum seekers and fined “well over 280 million Euros”. Given the refusal to pay, a bailiff has visited Fedasil, the cabinet of Migration State Secretary Nicole De Moor and the cabinet of Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open VLD) to confiscate goods.
De Croo and de Moor presented a new migration deal on 8 March. The announced plan includes the aim of establishing some 700 accommodation places using shipping containers reportedly supplied by the European Asylum Agency (EUAA) and a ban on placing children in detention centres. However, the main elements are restrictive, including a 30-day limit to leave reception places for rejected asylum seekers, legally anchoring the proactive return policy, imposed measures to ensure cooperation on return, acceleration of deportations and Dublin transfers. “Those who have used up all appeals must return to their country of origin.That is why we will focus more on outflows and deportations. The proactive return policy is enshrined in law. We will not continue to create reception places. Those entitled to reception will get it, but no collective regularisation will happen. On the contrary,” said De Croo. Further, the plan includes severe restrictions on family reunifications. According to Euractiv: “It notably includes a procedure for determining who the effective carer of the child is. Read More..
