Brussels cuts 1,000 places in refugee shelters

An estimated 1,000 accommodation places are being cut from asylum seeker centres in the Brussels region as of this month, while the country continues to grapple with a migration crisis. 

The 1,000 places are being cut from the 2,000 created as part of the "Brussels Deal", following a July decision from minister for asylum and migration Anneleen Van Bossuyt (N-VA).

The Brussels Deal was launched at the end of 2022 to address the lack of capacity within Fedasil’s standard network to accommodate asylum seekers. Using an annual budget of €42 million, 2,000 new places were funded in the Brussels region.

But Van Bossuyt said that demand had since fallen. “Taxpayers’ money can only be spent once,” she said. “If there are now only around 1,000 people on the waiting list, I’m not going to keep paying for 2,000 places.”

Several civil society organisations dispute the minister’s reasoning and believe cutting these places could trigger a crisis. 

According to Samusocial, a Brussels-based organisation providing support to the homeless, the number of requests for accommodation in their homeless shelters in Brussels is in fact rising sharply, particularly among families with children.

The organisation’s figures show that in July, 244 of the 299 families seeking shelter could not be accommodated because the overall Brussels shelter network had reached maximum capacity. 

“Cutting these 1,000 places will only exacerbate an already critical situation, leaving even more families, children and vulnerable people on the streets,” Samusocial said in a statement.

It fears that many people will be forced to seek refuge in metro stations and parks, and the organisation is concerned about the emergence of new tent camps in Brussels.