Pieter Spinnewijn has been appointed General Director of Belgium's asylum reception agency Fedasil. State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor (CD&V) confirmed that Spinnewijn will replace current General Director Fanny François.
He will take up the new role on 1 July and François will return to her previous position as Fedasil's Strategy and Organisation Director. Spinnewijn already plays a key role in Fedasil's leadership as Operational Services Director.
"Mr. Spinnewijn faces a tough challenge," De Moor told Belga News Agency. "Finding sufficient shelter has become very difficult in recent years."
A deteriorating reception crisis has resulted in thousands of asylum seekers being denied access to accommodation and forced to sleep on the street or in precarious conditions. An unlawful decision taken by De Moor to suspend reception for single males in August 2023 exacerbated the situation for many.
De Moor said that tackling these issues "will require courage and decisiveness to implement reforms on the ground... With his many years of experience in the organisation, [Spinnewijn] is the person to do this."
Timeline
Spinnewijn launched his career in the University of Ghent in 2001, where he worked as a legal teaching assistant. He later continued his legal studies in the Catholic University of Leuven and the Sorbonne in Paris. The lawyer joined Fedasil 2007, moving through several management and coordination positions to the top of the organisation.
Spinnewijn is currently responsible for sourcing buildings to be used for asylum seeker accommodation. In an interview with Knack last year, he said labour market conditions were important to consider in the reception crisis. On the one hand, shortages make it difficult to find sufficient staff to operate prospective reception centres. On the other hand, they provide opportunities for asylum seekers, who are permitted to work while they await a decision on their application.
Pieter Spinnewijn. Credit: Belga
The Federal Government recently adopted a law that will obige working asylum seekers to contribute to their reception costs. Under the new rules, an asylum seeker will pay 35% of any wages surpassing €265 a month. For instance, an individual earning €900 net will pay €222.25 per month.
A recent Amnesty International report was highly critical of reception conditions in Belgium, for which the state and Fedasil are responsible. "The reception crisis, created by our government itself, has been going on for two and a half years now," said Wies De Graeve, director of Amnesty International Flanders.
"The crisis is forcing thousands of people to survive on the streets for months at a time, a situation that seriously affects their dignity and their human rights."
