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Asylum applicants who arrive at the border are systematically detained before being allowed to enter the territory (see Border detention).[1] Asylum applicants can also in certain specific cases be detained during their procedure and in the context of the Dublin procedure (see Grounds for detention). In 2024, the population in the administrative detention centres consisted of 83% men and 17% women in the following procedural situation: 37% persons detained in the context of a border procedure, 12% persons detained in the context of a Dublin procedure or bilateral agreement between EU Member States, 51% undocumented persons.[2] No data on the number of asylum applicants in administrative detention in 2025 is yet available at the time of writing (April 2026). In 2025, 682 persons applied for asylum at the border.
Belgium has a total of 6 administrative detention centres, commonly referred to as ‘closed centres’, with a total capacity of 459 at the end of 2024:[3] the 127bis repatriation centre; the ‘Caricole’ near Brussels Airport; and 4 ‘Centres for Illegal Aliens’ – as the authorities define them – located in Bruges (CIB), in Merksplas near Antwerp (CIM), in Vottem near Liège (CIV) and in Holsbeek (near Leuven).[4] The decrease in the capacity of the centres in 2024 is primarily the result of staff movements, infrastructure changes, and the growing presence of bedbugs, which makes certain facilities (temporarily) unusable.[5] Unlike the open reception centres, the detention centres fall under the authority of the Immigration Office.
The government decided on 14 May 2017 to maximise the number of places in existing detention facilities through what was named the ‘Master Plan’. The latest government coalition, that was inaugurated on 3 February 2025, confirmed the goal to double the current detention capacity.[6] With the construction of two additional administrative detention centres in Zandvliet (144 places) and Jumet (200 places), the construction of a new centre in Jabbeke (112 places) as replacement for the centre in Bruges,[7] and the creation of a new quick-departure centre in Steenokkerzeel (50 places),[8] the total detention capacity in Belgium should amount to 1,145 places in 2030.[9] The building works for the departure centre in Steenokkerzeel have started in August 2025 and are planned to be finished by the end of 2026.[10] The planning regarding the realisation of the three centres in Zandvliet, Jumet and Jabbeke remains unclear.
[1] Immigration Office, Activity report 2024, available in French here (p. 86) and in Dutch here (p. 86).
[2] Immigration Office, Activity report 2024, available in French here (p. 86) and in Dutch here (p. 86).
[3] For an overview, see Getting the Voice Out, ‘What are the detention centres in Belgium?’, available here.
[4] The capacity in the administrative detention centres is 120 in the 127bis repatriation centre, 114 in Caricole, 112 in Bruges, 142 in Merksplas, 119 in Vottem, and 28 in Holsbeek. Data available on the website of the Immigration Office (in Dutch here and in French here), consulted on 21 January 2026.
[5] Immigration Office, Activity report 2024, available in French here (p. 86) and in Dutch here (p. 86).
[6] Accord de coalition fédérale 2025-2029, 31 January 2025, available in French here (p. 179) and in Dutch here (p. 175).
[7] The Government had announced the replacement of the centre in Bruges, as the condition of the current centre is deemed ‘very bad’ (Chamber of Representatives, Policy Note on asylum and migration, 4 November 2020, available in Dutch and French at: https://bit.ly/3sJdgMd, 34).
[8] A proposal to create a new short-stay departure centre in Steenokkerzeel (next to 127bis and Caricole) was made which, according to the government, would make removals more ‘humane, comfortable and safe’ and promote better care for people who need to be repatriated swiftly.
[9] As the Secretary of State announced on his website, 22 March 2022, available in Dutch and French, available at: https://bit.ly/35n68ht.
[10] According to “La Régie des Bâtiments”, 13 November 2025, in French here and in Dutch here.