Author
Shortage of places
Since September 2021 Fedasil can no longer provide a reception place for all applicants for international protection. Despite efforts to create new places, there are not enough places available in the reception network. Fedasil therefore needs to prioritise ‘vulnerable’ groups. Single men are considered to be the ‘least vulnerable’ group, due to which they are systematically denied access to the reception network. Although 3,388 new places were created in 2023, this was largely insufficient to provide reception to all asylum seekers in need. The reception crisis persisted throughout 2023, with a total of 8,816 persons with a reception need not being able to get a reception place. At the end of 2023, approximately 3,000 asylum seekers were registered on the waiting list, the average waiting time before getting access to a reception place being approximately 6 months. (see extensive information on the reception crisis under Constraints in accessing accommodation).
Average duration of stay
In 2021, the average length of stay of applicants for international protection in the reception system was 14,9 months.[1]
Most applicants stay a considerable part of this period, or all of it, in collective reception centres. The law provides for accommodation to be adapted to the individual situation of the asylum seeker,[2] but in practice places are primarily assigned according to availability and preferences under the reception model introduced in 2015. It was then decided that reception should mainly be provided in collective centres, while only certain cases would benefit from individual accommodation (see Forms and Levels of Material Reception Conditions).
Overall conditions
The minimum material reception rights for asylum seekers are described in the Reception Act, mainly in a very general way.[3] Fedasil puts them into 4 categories of aid:[4]
- “Bed, bath, bread”: the basic needs that is a place to sleep, meals, sanitary facilities and clothing;
- Guidance, including social, legal, linguistic, medical and psychological assistance;
- Daily life, including leisure, activities, education, training, work and community services; and
- Neighbourhood associations.
Many aspects such as the social guidance during transition to financial aid after a person has obtained a legal stay, or the legal guidance during the asylum procedure and the quality norms for reception facilities have not yet been regulated by implementing decrees as the law has stipulated. Until then, those are left to be determined by the individual reception facilities themselves or in a more coordinated way by Fedasil instructions. Due to this, the quality norms for reception facilities are still not a public document, although they exist and were updated and agreed upon by all the partners of Fedasil in 2018. They contain minimum social and legal guidance standards, material assistance, infrastructure, contents and safety.
In 2015 Fedasil developed a framework to conduct quality audits based on these uniform standards. Setting minimum standards and an audit mechanism was difficult as different partners, such as the Red Cross, have developed their own norms and standards over the years. Moreover, some partners criticised the possibility to have audits being performed by Fedasil instead of an independent authority.[5]
As of today, these audits are performed by Fedasil and there is still no independent and external monitoring system put in place. The past years, audits were conducted at all levels of the reception system (both by Fedasil and partners, and both in collective and individual shelters): 40 in 2019, 30 in 2020, 44 in 2021, 43 in 2022 and 32 in 2023. For 2024, 35 audits are planned, 14 of which in reception centres.The findings are not public and only communicated to the reception facility concerned.
A Royal Decree regulates the system and operating rules in reception centres as well as on the modalities for checking the rooms.[6] This contains several general rights for the asylum seeker, such as:
- The right to a private and family life: family members should be accommodated close to each other;
- The right to be treated in an equal, non-discriminatory and respectful manner;
- Three meals per day provided either directly by the infrastructure or through other means;
- The right to be visited by lawyers and representatives of UNHCR. These visits should take place in a separate room allowing for private conversations.
Due to the current reception crisis, the reception network has been at full capacity since September of 2021. No public documents are available about the impact of the reception crisis on the living conditions in the reception network.
In 2022 Fedasil conducted a study on its residents’ wellbeing, comparing collective[7] and individual[8] reception facilities. The residents of the former type of reception express an overall negative perception of their wellbeing. Almost all residents indicate that their basic physical and mental needs are not satisfied. They experience a lack of privacy, feel isolated and a lack of control over their day-to-day life. The overall conclusion is that collective reception facilities provide “a difficult environment”. The residents of the individual reception facilities express an overall positive perception of their wellbeing. The residents obtain more freedom and autonomy in these facilities, which has a positive impact on their wellbeing. The study highlighted a risk of isolation in individual facilities. Residents who moved from collective to individual reception facilities experienced a positive change in their wellbeing.
Despite an increased wellbeing in individual reception facilities, most reception places are in the form of collective reception facilities. At the time of writing, 14% of the reception places are individual reception facilities, whereas the government aims to have 60% collective and 40% individual reception places.[9]
[1] Information provided by Fedasil, February. The average is based on the duration of stay of all persons leaving the reception network in 2021 and is thus impacted by the temporary decision to stop Afghan asylum cases in 2021. There is no update provided about the average stay in 2022 or 2023.
[2] Articles 11, 22, 28 and 36 Reception Act.
[3] Articles 14-35 Reception Act.
[4] Fedasil, Stay in a Reception Centre, available at: https://tinyurl.com/rd29k52s.
[5] Court of Auditors, Opvang van asielzoekers, October 2017, 47-48.
[6] Royal Decree on the system and operating rules in reception centres and the modalities for checking rooms, 2 September 2018.
[7] Fedasil, ‘Welbeing and daily life in collective reception’, December 2022, available in Dutch via https://tinyurl.com/45w6tyst.
[8] Fedasil, ‘Welbeing and daily life in individual reception’, December 2022, available in Dutch via https://tinyurl.com/3svb3a9t.
[9] VVSG (Association of Flemish cities and communes), Material aid – Better financing and more certainty in order to convince local administrations to open LRI’s, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3TCNmYw.