Theo Francken: “The asylum system is crashing before our eyes”

No fewer than 3,247(!) asylum seekers applied for asylum in Belgium in March. The highest number in seven years. In March, barely 28.5% of asylum seekers were recognised as refugees. A record low. The waiting list continues to increase. Nearly 20,000 people are waiting for a decision. This does not include the tens of thousands of temporarily displaced Ukrainians. They are following a different track for residence. The cost is breaking all records. The initial record amount for asylum reception of EUR 527 million will not suffice. “The current asylum system is completely broken. The Vivaldi government is dancing out this macabre performance. The media is looking the other way,” MP Theo Francken comments.

The publication of the monthly asylum figures by the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) sets off alarm bells. The number of asylum seekers submitting an asylum application in our country for the first time rose by 55%, from 1,885 in March to 2,922 in April. That is the highest monthly figure since the European Migration Crisis of 2015.

Afghans

Such a high influx is particularly worrying, especially when you realise that a separate circuit was set up for Ukrainian war refugees outside the asylum system. Although people of Ukrainian nationality are still applying for asylum, this is only about 13% of the influx of new asylum seekers in April. There is much more to it than that. For example, large groups of Afghans continue to find their way to Belgium after illegal migration. This year, they are by far the largest group of asylum seekers. However, about two out of three of these applications are refused.

Backlog

The monthly figures of the CGRS continued to be disastrous in several respects. For example, in April, there were no less than 1,084 fewer final decisions in pending cases than there were new applications. At this rate, the administrative backlog is in danger of ballooning by as many as 13,000 cases this year to a completely unworkable 29,000 cases in total. That is almost as many as there are places to accommodate refugees. “With each month that passes, asylum seekers in this country have to wait longer for their decision, which means that there is increasingly less space available for new asylum seekers,” Theo Francken continues.

Crash

“The asylum system is crashing before our eyes, while nothing is being done to curb the influx. However, the solution is obvious: reintroduce a maximum quota for the number of asylum applications. Be consistent in refusing to accept asylum seekers with an asylum procedure in another European Member State and, if necessary, conduct the legal battle over them to the extreme. And finally, choose the Australian approach, just as Denmark and the United Kingdom have done,” Theo Francken concludes.