Two interim measures granted within weeks as Belgium fails to house asylum seekers
A notable development in Belgium over recent weeks has seen the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) grant two interim measures requiring Belgian authorities to comply with national court orders to provide accommodation for homeless asylum seekers.
Asylum seekers have been sleeping on the streets in Belgium for many months due to a lack of space in reception centres, with reports recently that this even includes young children.
Yesterday, the ECtHR issued a press release over a case involving 148 homeless asylum seekers of various nationalities. The press release stated:
"On 15 November 2022, the European Court of Human Rights (Chamber of seven judges) decided to indicate an interim measure (Rules 39 of the Rules of the Court) in the case of Msallem and 147 Others v. Belgium (application no. 48987/22 and 147 others).
"The case concerns the applicants (adult males), who have applied to the Belgian authorities for international protection and have not been assigned accommodation on account of the alleged saturation of the network for receiving asylum-seekers in Belgium. The applicants have all obtained a final domestic decision from the Brussels Labour Court ordering the Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum-Seekers (Fedasil) to provide them with accommodation and material assistance in accordance with the Law of 12 January 2007.
"The Court decided to enjoin the Belgian State to comply with the orders made by the Brussels Labour Court in respect of each of the applicants and to provide them with accommodation and material assistance to meet their basic needs for the duration of the proceedings before the Court."
It is the second time in weeks that the ECtHR has granted an interim measure over the issue of homeless asylum seekers. In an earlier press release issued on November 2nd, the Court stated:
"On 31 October 2022 the European Court of Human Rights decided to indicate an interim measure in the case of Camara v. Belgium (application no. 49255/22).
"The case concerns a Guinean national who applied to the Belgian authorities for international protection on 15 July 2022. Since then he has lived on the street, not having been assigned a place in a reception facility by the Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum-Seekers (Fedasil) on account of the alleged saturation of the network for receiving asylum-seekers in Belgium. This is the first case of its kind. The Court continues to receive similar applications.
"The Court decided to enjoin the Belgian State to enforce the order made by the Brussels French-language Labour Court and to provide the applicant with accommodation and material assistance to meet his basic needs."
The Guinean applicant said he was suffering from hunger and health problems and was unable to find a doctor. The applicant added that there was a scabies epidemic among asylum seekers living on the streets, which was worsening as a result of poor sanitation.
Earlier this month, The Brussels Times reported that the long-running reception crisis for asylum seekers in Belgium has even led to unaccompanied minors and families with young children sleeping on the streets.
The policy officer for the Belgian NGO Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen was quoted as saying: "Unfortunately, no shelter for the majority of families and minors today. There were 240 of them this morning, I have no idea how many of them end up on the streets but there are very many. Children, couples, unaccompanied minors, women: all on the streets."
It is a problem that has existed in Belgium for many months. Last winter, hundreds of asylum seekers were left sleeping on the streets in the cold. The director of campaigns at Médecins du Monde Belgium told InfoMigrants that the situation was a catastrophe.
The Brussels Times explains that Belgium has seen an increase in asylum seekers since last October, but the number of places available at reception centres to accommodate them has not risen to keep up with demand. Hundreds of asylum seekers have been left sleeping rough as a result.
Since the beginning of the year, around 5,000 asylum seekers have been denied the shelter they are legally entitled to, The Brussels Times reported last month.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) told The Brussels Times: "People are left on the streets, sometimes for weeks, without medical assistance. Our team has identified various skin conditions, as well as some cases of tuberculosis and scabies … On Tuesday the team diagnosed a 20-month-old baby with malaria. She wasn't given any accommodation, so we had to refer her to the hospital Saint-Pierre."
The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) has more on the issue from last week here.