Three Iranian nationals, who were facing deportation since December, have been granted asylum in Belgium, Belga News Agency reports.
Immigration authorities had been "unjustly" detaining the three men in a closed asylum centre in Flanders until a court ruling ordered their release in February.
The asylum seekers' lawyer, Guillaume Lys, stated that his clients would be able to live a normal life in Belgium after having spent the last three months fighting for the right to remain in the country.
After their first asylum claim was rejected, Belgian authorities attempted to deport them back to Iran, despite the country being in the midst of violent political unrest and a crackdown by the authorities. All three refused to board the plane to be deported, with the support of a spontaneous crowd of protestors at the airport.
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The Iranian men had since been detained in a closed asylum centre in the Flemish municipality of Steenokkerzeel, which was overturned by a Brussels court. Subsequently, another count banned any potential deportation of the asylum seekers, a decision which was appealed by Nicole De Moor, Belgium's Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration.
Last Wednesday, the ban was upheld and all three men have now been granted refugee status by Belgium's Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons.
