Safe country of origin

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The safe country of origin concept was introduced in the Aliens Act in 2012. Applications from safe countries of origin are examined under the Accelerated Procedure.^[1]  Applicants from safe countries of origin face a higher burden of proof to refute the presumption of the safety of their country of origin: they must present serious reasons explaining why their country cannot be considered safe in their situation.

According to the law, countries can be considered safe if the rule of law in a democratic system and the prevailing political circumstances allow concluding that, in a general and durable manner, there is no persecution or real risk of serious harm, taking into consideration the laws and regulations and the legal practice in that country, the respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms of the ECHR, the principle of non-refoulement and the availability of an effective remedy against violations of these rights and principles.^[2]

After receiving detailed advice from the CGRS, the government approves the list of safe countries of origin upon the proposal of the Minister for Asylum and Migration and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The list must be reviewed annually and can be adjusted.^[3] Belgium approved an updated list of safe countries of origin that is applicable as of 15 December 2025. The following countries are currently considered safe countries of origin: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of North-Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and Morocco.^[4] India and Moldova were removed from the list, whereas Morocco was added despite the advice of the CGRS that did not list Morocco as a safe country of origin. As a motivation, the government referred, among other things, to the fact the analysis by the CGRS regarding the situation in Morocco dates from 2021 and would thus be outdated, the protection rate having evolved from 21% in 2021 to 10% in 2024; as well as to the fact that Morocco is included as a safe country of origin in the EU Commission’s proposal for an amended Regulation for the establishment of a list of safe countries of origin at Union level[5], and the fact that 11 other EU Member States have included Morocco in their list of safe countries of origin.[6] Since the advice of the CGRS is not publicly available, it is not possible to determine whether the government has taken its content into sufficient consideration.

In 2024, a total of 1,912 persons from safe countries of origin applied for asylum. No official total number was provided for 2025. The breakdown per nationality was as follows:

Source: Eurostat, Asylum applicants by type, citizenship, age and sex – annual aggregated data, available in English here.

[1]          Article 57/6/1(1)(b) Aliens Act.

[2]          Article 57/6/1(3) Aliens Act.

[3]          Article 57/6/1 Aliens Act.

[4]          Royal Decree of 3 December 2025, available in French and Dutch here.

[5]        European Commission, Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 as regards the establishment of a list of safe countries of origin at Union level, 16 April 2025, available in English here.

[6]          Motivation contained in the Royal Decree of 3 December 2025, available in French and Dutch here.

[7]          The following table includes data collected for Georgia, although Georgia is no longer considered a safe country of origin as of April 2023, the data for Georgia in this table covers the period 01/2023-04/2023.