Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor (CD&V) has decided to temporarily no longer accommodate single men who apply for asylum in Belgium in the Fedasil network. The Cabinet of the Secretary of State announced this in a press release. She wants to prevent families with children from ending up on the street. Members of the Brussels government react critically. “The De Croo government allows thousands of asylum seekers to roam the Brussels streets and stations.”
According to De Moor, there has been a strong increase in the number of families with children applying for asylum in recent days. “I don’t want to be left behind, and that is why I am already taking the decision to reserve all available places for families with children,” says De Moor.
The asylum and migration services in our country have been struggling for months with a shortage of reception places. Vulnerable persons, such as minors and families with children, were already given priority in that context, so that in practice single men often had to wait a long time for a place in the network.
According to the Federal Migration Center Myria, the Belgian state has already been convicted more than seven thousand times because the asylum reception in our country is inadequate. This resulted in numerous penalty payments, but De Moor refuses to pay them.
‘Increase in number of homeless people in Brussels’
The Brussels government reacts critically to de Moor’s announcement. “The federal level once again rejects its obligation to receive all asylum seekers,” DéFI minister Bernard Clerfayt said on Twitter. “The De Croo government allows thousands of asylum seekers to roam the Brussels streets and stations.”
According to Ecolo minister Alain Maron, the decision will lead to an increase in the number of homeless people in Brussels. “The federal government must meet its national and international obligations.”
‘Not in accordance with international law’
For Kati Verstrepen, the chairwoman of the League for Human Rights, De Moor confirms a situation that has existed for a long time in practice. However, that doesn’t make it any less serious. “This is absolutely not in accordance with international or Belgian law. Reception must be provided for everyone,” she says.
Moreover, according to Verstrepen, it is not true that single men are less vulnerable and it is not possible for an entire group to be simply excluded from shelter. “Single men can also be victims of violence and abuse. If shelter fails in exceptional cases, it must be considered on a case-by-case basis who is most vulnerable.”
The measure also proves that the migration deals that the European Union has concluded with Tunisia and previously with Turkey are not working, says Verstrepen. The League for Human Rights advocates expanding legal migration channels such as labor migration, so that fewer migrants are forced to submit an asylum application.
This article is originally published on bruzz.be
