Waiting list decreases: 1,200 asylum seekers left reception center in recent months | Interior

The waiting list for asylum has fallen to less than 3,000 people. CD&V State Secretary De Moor attributes the decrease to a combination of a higher outflow from reception and a somewhat lower influx.

With regard to the outflow, the State Secretary points to a number of accelerated procedures. This concerns, for example, the outflow of asylum seekers who can stand on their own two feet because of a job. As a result of this measure, working asylum seekers have left the reception since December. In December there were 90, the first months of this year 253.

In addition, there is a stricter follow-up of people who have been in the shelter for more than three years. The aim is to speed up those procedures so that those asylum seekers can flow out. 896 people have already left the shelter in this way since January.

De Moor also points to the effect of the recruitment of extra employees at the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS). Since last summer, more than 70 additional employees have been recruited. The extra staff and the faster procedures also mean that more decisions can be made. The number of decisions rose in recent months to 2,677 in March and 2,463 in April, compared to an average of 2,000 decisions in 2022.

In addition to the outflow, there is of course also the inflow. According to the CD&V State Secretary, the intention is to “play quickly”. For example, there was a sharp increase in Moldovan asylum seekers, with more than 120 applications in March. “Thanks to the rapid processing of those applications and prevention, the number of applications was halved in April. Moldovans hardly have a chance of being granted asylum in our country,” explains de Moor.