In Belgium, over 2,500 people seeking international protection remain destitute due to the government’s ongoing refusal to provide accommodation and essential services, a policy that has been in place since 2021. Many of these individuals, primarily single men, are left without shelter, forced to sleep on the streets, in makeshift tents, or in squats. Despite more than 10,000 domestic court rulings ordering the government to provide adequate reception, the Belgian government has continually ignored these legally binding judgments. The federal government must act immediately to provide reception, end this self-inflicted rule of law crisis and uphold Belgium’s international human rights obligations.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: October 3, 2025
Dear Minister,
I am writing to express my concern regarding the Belgian government’s continued failure to provide reception and essential services to people seeking international protection in Belgium, which violates its international and European human rights obligations.
Since 2021, the government has repeatedly refused to take the necessary steps and use all available instruments to address the situation and uphold people’s rights. The state has acted in open defiance of over 12,000 domestic and international judicial orders.
Thousands of asylum seekers, primarily single racialized men, are paying a heavy price for the authorities’ willful inaction. People having come to Belgium hoping for protection from conflict, persecution, and human rights abuses, are left to live on the streets for months.
To address the situation, Belgian authorities must take all possible measures to respect, protect, and fulfil the rights of asylum seekers without discrimination. As a priority, immediate actions are required to create additional reception capacity, including by activating the ‘dispersal plan’, and by providing significant support to municipalities. In parallel, your government must act urgently to create long-term strategies to handle fluctuations in the number of people seeking protection in Belgium.
I urge you to provide people seeking protection with adequate reception and to fully respect national and international court decisions that protect the human rights of asylum seekers.
Yours sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
Other Urgent Actions for this Case
- First UA Issued: [Belgium 113.23]
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