The latter recently assessed the measures taken by Member States to comply with the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. In this context, they looked at a July 2023 judgment highlighting Belgium’s systematic failure to implement judicial decisions regarding the reception of asylum seekers.
Following this analysis, the delegates “note with interest the commitment of the authorities to address the systemic problem identified by the Court, the numerous measures they have already adopted to this end as well as the measures which are still planned, in particular, the creation of 3,500 new temporary places.”
Working asylum seekers now have to pay a contribution to stay in an asylum centre
However, they qualify, “given the inadequacy of these measures in light of the ongoing crisis, its humanitarian nature and its impact on the European Court and the Brussels courts, they invite the authorities to use all the means at their disposal and to adopt a sufficient budget as well as a timetable specifying the next steps with a view to achieving compliance with their commitment.”
The Belgian authorities are therefore requested “to increase, as quickly as possible and in a significant and sustainable manner, the capacity of their reception network to resolve the current crisis, eradicate at source the problem of non-enforcement of court decisions and be able to cope, in the future, with the flow of applicants, inherent in any asylum system”, the delegates continue.
The latter further encourage the authorities “to continue and strengthen their cooperation with the European Union Agency for Asylum; to provide for other measures, such as emergency reception and/or the granting of financial aid, as well as to monitor the execution of all judicial decisions on reception”.
“Between mid-June 2023 and mid-June 2024, the number of people on the waiting list for a place in reception has almost doubled, going from 2,114 to 4,097 people”
For the Federal Migration Centre Myria and the Federal Institute for Human Rights (IFDH), the Council of Europe’s analysis is not a surprise. “Between mid-June 2023 and mid-June 2024, the number of people on the waiting list for a reception place almost doubled, from 2,114 to 4,097 people,” underline the two organisations which had shared their conclusions with the Council of Europe in July.
The increase in reception capacity is “clearly insufficient”, they still believe. The capacity of the reception network has certainly increased from 29,000 places in 2021 to 35,385 places in May 2024, but only 1,765 additional places have been created between July 2023 and June 2024.
“By not taking certain measures, the government is demonstrating insufficient political will to resolve this humanitarian crisis,” conclude Myria and the IFDH.
