14 years: that is how long a family of 7 asylum seekers has been staying in the asylum reception. An absolute record, according to figures from N-VA. Secretary of State for Asylum Nicole de Moor (CD&V) is currently trying to brick up such loopholes.
The asylum shelter is still groaning. Fedasil currently receives no fewer than 34,000 asylum seekers. On average they stay there for 15 months. But there are also asylum seekers who live in a center for a lot longer, according to figures requested by Member of Parliament Tomas Roggeman (N-VA) from State Secretary for Migration Nicole de Moor (CD&V). More than 3,500 people have been staying in an asylum center for more than 3 years. Until recently, asylum seekers who had already been rejected could still stay in the reception, as long as they continued to initiate other residence procedures such as regularizations or family reunification. The asylum deal that the federal government concluded at the beginning of March should put an end to this: only people who have an asylum application pending can stay in the shelter.
However, one family consisting of seven family members takes the cake: they have been living in the shelter for 14 years. The family has already tried various procedures to extend their stay in Belgium. From the moment the parents received a negative asylum decision, they each time started a new application in the name of one of their children. This is legally difficult to change, because that law is regulated at European level. The family also submitted an application for medical and humanitarian regularization to extend their stay.
N-VA wants the federal government to limit people who try to extend their stay in an asylum center through various loopholes. State Secretary de Moor, however, retorts that this is already happening with measures that were decided at the beginning of this month in the asylum deal. For example, someone who receives a negative asylum decision must leave the reception within a period of 30 days. That is an average of three months faster than today. The measure ensures that only those who are in an asylum procedure will be able to rely on reception. For example, about 1,000 beds will become available in the short term and people who try to extend their stay through new applications will no longer be able to stay in the shelter.
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