Asylum applications in Belgium fell to 2,142 in August, down 26% from a year earlier, according to Asylum and Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt.
The August total was also 36% lower than in August 2024, the minister said on Tuesday. Van Bossuyt said Belgium is outperforming the wider European trend. Across Europe, asylum arrivals fell by 18% in the first seven months of the year, compared with a 30% drop in Belgium.
That decline has pushed Belgium further down the ranking of main destination countries for asylum seekers. Relative to its population, the country has moved from third place last year to sixth. The minister also contrasted the latest figures with those from two years ago, when nearly 25,000 asylum seekers arrived over the first eight months under the previous government, part of that time in caretaker mode.
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This year, that figure stands at 16,471, or more than 8,000 fewer.
Van Bossuyt said the government is now focusing on increasing the return of people staying in the country illegally. “The figures are continuing to move in the right direction. That is encouraging, but we are still far from where we need to be,” she said.
“Now that arrivals are continuing to fall because of international trends and clear policy choices, we will focus in the coming months on the return of those living here illegally. From the start of this government, it was clear: asylum arrivals must go down, and returns must go up.”
