A Dutch court has decided not to return an asylum seeker to Belgium as it ruled that the country is not a reliable partner in Europe to send asylum seekers to and cannot guarantee the required shelter for single men due to the lack of reception places.
A single male asylum seeker may not be sent to Belgium to go through his asylum application, the office of State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor confirmed following reports by De Standaard.
The case concerns a Nigerian man who previously applied for international protection in Italy, Germany, France and, in 2021, Belgium. The man ended up in the Netherlands but the Dutch authorities required him to return to France or Belgium for his asylum claim – citing the Dublin agreement.
The Dublin agreement requires a person to go through their asylum application in the first country where they applied for asylum. This should prevent rejected asylum seekers from going from country to country and keep trying.
'Deprived of basic provisions'
However, the man did not want to go back to Belgium because the country could not guarantee shelter for single men (despite it being a legal requirement) and took the case to court. Last summer, State Secretary de Moor decided to temporarily stop providing single men with shelter to reserve all available places for families with children.
The approach was heavily criticised by human rights organisations and NGOs, and the Council of State also reversed De Moor's decision in September. Still, it remains the official approach.
After considering the situation in Belgium, the Dutch court ruled in favour of the man, with the judge citing concrete evidence that "single, adult, non-vulnerable male asylum seekers run a real risk of being deprived for a long time of shelter" and other "basic provisions for a dignified life."
Belgian State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor. Credit: Belga / James Arthur Gekiere
The Dutch court explicitly concluded that the 'interstate principle of confidence' in Belgium "cannot be assumed" for single men and also called the country's approach a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.
This is not the first time a Dutch court has come to this conclusion: in February 2023, a Chinese asylum seeker did not have to return to Belgium either because he might receive "inhumane treatment," the court ruled then.
Since October 2021, Belgium's reception crisis has asylum seekers who applied for international protection being denied shelter, leading to hundreds of single men sleeping on the streets in Brussels. The Belgian Government has been convicted thousands of times for this violation of its own laws.
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The Belgian authorities are presenting the situation as one that is unsolvable but several civil society organisations have repeatedly suggested solutions and called the reception issue a question of "lack of political will."
"We follow the Dublin agreement. Belgium cannot comment about jurisdiction in another EU Member State," said De Moor's office. "Belgium continues to cooperate. EU solidarity is necessary but unfortunately we have to make difficult choices at the moment because the reception network still has insufficient places. The Belgian State continues to open and seek reception places."
