De Moor advocates new European asylum policy: “Status quo is unacceptable” | Interior

De Moor testified in the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee about the efforts that Belgium is making to cope with the persistently high influx of asylum seekers and to provide shelter for all people. She pointed out, among other things, that the reception network has never been larger. According to her, there is also a lot of focus on prevention campaigns in countries of origin. And more people without the right to protection are being sent back to their country of origin.

“I am the first to admit that the situation in Belgium is difficult. Providing shelter is not only a legal, but also a moral obligation. But there are limits to what I can do on a national level. We need an all-encompassing European approach,” it sounds. The Belgian Secretary of State thus emphasized the importance of stronger controls and procedures at the European external borders and solidarity with member states that are under pressure.

One of those member states is currently Belgium, says de Moor. In theory, the current European rules put pressure on the countries at the external borders because the country of arrival in the EU is primarily responsible for processing an asylum application. In practice, however, people often travel to the northwest of the continent. Only a small fraction is returned to the country where the asylum application is to be processed.

De Moor believes in the proposals for a new asylum and migration policy that the European Commission proposed almost three years ago. The European Parliament confirmed last week that it is ready for negotiations with the member states, but they are unable to agree. There are even doubts whether that will ever succeed, but de Moor assured that hard work is being done to get national governments on the same wavelength and to approve the reform before the European elections of 2024.