Belgium's new measure, which denies protection to asylum seekers already recognised in another EU member state, will merely shift issues elsewhere, warns Thomas Willekens, policy adviser at the Flemish refugee organisation, Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen.
While Willekens understands the rationale that each member state is responsible for its asylum seekers, he points out that the logic only holds if every country adheres to the rules, noting that people continue to travel due to a lack of shelter, mistreatment, or poverty.
He criticises the notion that each state should not handle problems originating elsewhere, arguing that this leads to uniformly inhumane conditions. Willekens believes that standards should be raised rather than lowered.
He also questions how the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGVS) will acquire and process information from other countries.
Additionally, the policy preventing asylum seekers from making new applications without new elements through another minor child, starting Monday, is deemed ineffective by Willekens. He argues that this will increase workload while the minister seeks savings, highlighting that it affects only 1,750 out of 35,000 cases.
Finally, Willekens questions the measure that would deny people without shelter access to a living wage. "That was already an exception. Fedasil [the asylum reception agency] only did that in cases where the shelter was not adapted to a particular vulnerability. The Council of State advised that this was possible, provided that access to shelter is always guaranteed. Otherwise, you are limiting people's ability to live in dignity."
Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen identifies a common theme, noting that the Council of State was critical of all legislative proposals, yet the government ignored these advisories. "This is an ill-considered policy. The chances of it being upheld by the Constitutional Court are slim," said Willekens.
