Van Bossuyt halves Brussels asylum reception capacity, cutting 700 more places

Background of the Brussels Deal

The Brussels Deal was struck in 2022 after the federal reception network Fedasil became saturated. Under the agreement, the federal government paid the Brussels region 42 million euros annually (47 million according to De Morgen) to finance 2,000 temporary reception places for asylum seekers. The places were provided mainly by non-profits working with homeless services and were intended primarily for single men whose asylum applications were being processed.

Cuts announced

On 30 June, Minister Van Bossuyt removed 300 places. On 16 July she announced the removal of 700 more, halving the scheme to 1,000 places. The waiting list now stands at about 1,000 single men, half of whom are staying with family, friends or acquaintances. Van Bossuyt says monthly arrivals are falling, allowing her to close places and bring order to what she calls the asylum chaos left by the previous Vivaldi government.

By our policy, we are systematically bringing order to the asylum chaos created by the Vivaldi government. Arrivals are decreasing every month and that allows us to close reception places. I do not question that the homelessness problem is very serious in Brussels. But as Minister of Asylum and Migration, I cannot solve all Brussels problems with a bag of money.

Political reactions

Brussels Minister of Social Action Ahmed Laaouej (PS) had already denounced the 300-place cut as a unilateral and brutal decision, noting that authorities were forced to close a reception centre in just three weeks. He warned that the further reduction would push people into already saturated emergency and homeless services.

The dismantling of the Brussels Deal will inevitably lead to an outflow into Brussels emergency and homeless shelters, which are already heavily saturated.

Brussels official De Smedt accused Van Bossuyt of manipulating statistics, saying she changes waiting-list conditions daily and then claims the list is shrinking. De Smedt said the minister is presenting a fait accompli, knowing people will end up on the street.

Van Bossuyt is playing games with statistics. Every day she changes the conditions for the waiting list and then claims it is shrinking. She is presenting us with a fait accompli, knowing we cannot solve this quickly and that people will end up on the street.

Van Bossuyt countered that she had informed her Brussels colleagues three times about the phase-out and that they should not act surprised.

Timeline and next steps

A one-month notice period applies to the latest cuts, meaning the 700 places will disappear by September. Van Bossuyt hopes that by the end of the year everyone still on the waiting list can be accommodated in the regular Fedasil network, allowing the Brussels Deal to expire. A new cooperation proposal was submitted to the Brussels government at the end of June, but no response has been received.