|
Austria |
2020 |
Legislative |
|
Return of former applicants |
The responsibility for return counselling and return assistance was shifted to the Federal Agency for Care and Support Services as of 1 January 2021. |
EASO Asylum Report 2021 |
|
Austria |
2020 |
Legislative |
|
Persons with special needs in the asylum procedure |
The BFA Procedures Law and the Asylum Law were temporarily amended until 31 December 2020, so that unaccompanied minors can be transferred directly to a regional directorate or field office to launch an asylum application, without passing through a first reception centre. |
EASO Asylum Report 2021 |
|
Austria |
2020 |
Legislative |
|
Persons with special needs in the asylum procedure |
The scope of the term family was widened. |
EASO Asylum Report 2021 |
|
Belgium |
2021 |
Policy |
|
Statelessness in the context of asylum |
Belgium formally pledged to introduce a residence permit for stateless persons during the UN High Level Officials Meeting event taking place under the Global Refugee Forum. |
EUAA Asylum Report 2022 |
|
Belgium |
2021 |
Policy |
|
Processing asylum applications at first instance |
The State Secretary for Asylum and Migration announced the recruitment of 700 new staff for the CGRS, the Immigration Office and Fedasil and published a vacancy notice in June 2021. |
EUAA Asylum Report 2022 |
|
Belgium |
2021 |
Policy |
|
Processing asylum applications at first instance |
The State Secretary for Asylum and Migration planned to undertake an audit of the asylum services (CGRS, Immigration Office, Fedasil and CALL) with results expected in summer 2022. |
EUAA Asylum Report 2022 |
|
Belgium |
2021 |
Policy |
|
Processing asylum applications at first instance |
The notification of negative decisions was temporarily suspended for applicants from Afghanistan in August 2021 and the suspension was fully lifted on 2 March 2022. |
EUAA Asylum Report 2022 |
|
Belgium |
2021 |
Policy |
|
Reception of applicants for international protection |
A new feature of the online web application, Match-IT, was rolled out to document social aspects of an applicant. |
EUAA Asylum Report 2022 |
|
Belgium |
2021 |
Policy |
|
Reception of applicants for international protection |
A new IT system was launched in the arrival centre in Brussels to document residents in accommodation. |
EUAA Asylum Report 2022 |
|
Belgium |
2020 |
Policy |
|
Resettlement and humanitarian admissions |
A new community sponsorship programme was activated and the first families arrived to Belgium through this programme at the end of 2020. |
EASO Asylum Report 2021 |
|
Belgium |
2020 |
Policy |
|
Content of protection |
The Council of Ministers agreed on the creation of an Inter-ministerial Conference on Migration and Integration. |
EASO Asylum Report 2021 |
|
Belgium |
2020 |
Policy |
|
Processing asylum applications at first instance |
During the months when personal interviews were halted the focus was on case loads for which an interview had already taken place. Furthermore, the focus during this period was also on cases where it was clear, based on written documents, that the applicant was in need of international protection (mostly Syrians or where a family member had already obtained international protection). Likewise, subsequent applications without any new elements received a decision without an interview. When interviews resumed, priority was given to applicants who were within the reception system of the Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Fedasil) and already had a status in another EU+ Member State and Brazilian applicants who were already in the country before applying for asylum. |
EASO Asylum Report 2021 |
|
Belgium |
2020 |
Policy |
|
Processing asylum applications at first instance |
The Council of State suspended the project which aimed to pilot the use of videoconferencing in open centres. This is due to the fact that the Royal Decree on the functioning of the CGRS does not mention this among the competencies of the authority. The project can only continue once the Royal Decree is amended. |
EASO Asylum Report 2021 |
|
Belgium |
2020 |
Policy |
|
Access to procedure |
Applicants had to book an appointment online for their registration between April and October 2020. The first instance tribunal of Brussels ruled that this practice was against the law, hence from 30 October 2020 registration in person started again at the arrival centre, without prior appointment. |
EASO Asylum Report 2021 |
|
Belgium |
2019 |
Policy |
|
Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups |
All new protection officers at the CGRS were trained on gender in the asylum procedure and a specialised training course was provided for more experienced protection officers and supervisors on cases involving gender-related grounds. |
EASO Asylum Report 2020 |
|
Belgium |
2021 |
Policy |
|
Reception of applicants for international protection |
Fedasil launched a seven-module training programme for managers and training in breathing techniques for staff working in reception centres to support their emotional resilience. The content of the training on dealing with aggression was expanded. |
EUAA Asylum Report 2022 |
|
Belgium |
2021 |
Policy |
|
Reception of applicants for international protection |
Reception capacity was significantly increased throughout 2021, reaching 30,000 places in February 2022. |
EUAA Asylum Report 2022 |
|
Belgium |
2020 |
Policy |
|
Return of former applicants |
The final report of the commission for the evaluation of policies on foreigners' voluntary and forced return (also known as the Bossuyt Commission) was published. |
EASO Asylum Report 2021 |
|
Belgium |
2022 |
Institutional |
|
Processing asylum applications at first instance |
The State Secretary for Asylum and Migration announced that it considered plans to merge the Immigration Office, the CGRS and Fedasil. |
EUAA Asylum Report 2023 |
|
Belgium |
2019 |
Policy |
|
Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups |
The Guardianship Service continued with an AMIF-funded project to develop a methodology for monitoring guardians and the assessment of the best interests of minors and worked on improving communications with all stakeholders. |
EASO Asylum Report 2020 |
|
Belgium |
2019 |
Policy |
|
Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups |
The CGRS updated its guide for unaccompanied minors applying for international protection and published two new guides on accompanied children’s right to be heard in the asylum procedure (one for children, one for parents or guardians). |
EASO Asylum Report 2020 |
|
Belgium |
2019 |
Policy |
|
Unaccompanied minors and vulnerable groups |
The CGRS implemented a quality control process for gender-related cases, starting with cases which invoked sexual orientation as a ground to monitor the application of its Sexual Orientation Guideline. |
EASO Asylum Report 2020 |
|
Belgium |
2020 |
Policy |
|
Country of origin information |
CEDOCA developed a new training programme on COI through an online tutorial. |
EASO Asylum Report 2021 |
|
Belgium |
2020 |
Policy |
|
Content of protection |
The Immigration Office provided detailed guidance on the exceptional circumstances to extend the validity of family reunification decisions and the validity of supporting documents. |
EASO Asylum Report 2021 |
|
Belgium |
2021 |
Policy |
|
The Dublin procedure |
The State Secretary for Asylum and Migration extended the transfer period from 6 months to 18 months for applicants in the Dublin procedure who refused to undergo PCR testing. |
EUAA Asylum Report 2022 |