Author
Accommodation may be collective i.e. a centre, or in individual reception facilities i.e. a house, studio or flat,[1] depending on the profile of the asylum applicant and the phase of the asylum procedure the asylum applicant is in (see section on Forms and Levels of Material Reception Conditions).
At the end of 2025, there were 30,267 places in collective reception centres, 4,504 individual reception places (out of which 3,810 LRI’s) and 400 open return places. Out of the total of 34,771 places, 2,529 places are in the ‘first phase’ of reception[2], 32,242 in the ‘second phase’. Applicants stayed an average of 53 days in a ‘first phase’ centre before moving on to a ‘second phase’ reception place.
Due to a lack of reception places in the context of the reception crisis (since 2021 and ongoing in March 2025), Fedasil opened different types of emergency places to ensure reception for families. In that context, 8 ‘emergency shelters’ (NOC’s) with a total of 833 places were opened in hotels in Brussels in 2024. The average stay in these NOC’s was 63 calendar days.[3] On 18 January 2026 the Minister for Asylum and Migration declared that she closed the last NOC.[4] This was a high priority file for the government, since it considered these shelters as pull factors towards Belgium.[5]
The practical organisation and management of the reception centres is done in partnership between government bodies, NGOs and private partners.[6] In 2024, the 104 main collective reception centres were mainly managed and organised by Fedasil (47 centres, capacity of 12,774 places), Croix Rouge (8,694 places) and Rode Kruis (4,747 places). Some other smaller partners, such as Caritas and Samu Social, manage and organise centres with a total capacity of 1,794 places.[7]
Most individual reception places are LRI’s (3,810 at the end of 2025), run by local PCSW. Other individual reception places (total of 694 at the end of 2025) are managed by organisations such as Agentschap Opgroeien, Caritas, Ciré, Service d’aide aux migrants (SAM) and the Municipal Reception Initiative (Stedelijk Opvanginititief – SOI) in the city of Ghent.[8]
There are also specialised centres for specific categories of applicants (see Special Reception Needs).
[1] Article 16, 62 and 64 Reception Act.
[2] This includes the ‘orientation and observation centres’ where unaccompanied minors are housed the first weeks after their arrival.
[3] Information provided by Fedasil, April 2026.
[4] VRT NWS, ‘Last hotel accommodation for asylum seekers closed, some weeks earlier than planned’, 18 January 2026, available in Dutch here.
[5] VRT NWS, ‘Hotel accommodation for asylum seekers to be gradually phased out’, 20 October 2025, available here.
[6] Article 62 Reception Act.
[7] Information provided by Fedasil, April 2026.
[8] Information provided by Fedasil, April 2026.