Belgian court rules government has to accommodate Afghan family seeking asylum

A Brussels court ruled in an interim ruling on October 9 that the state was acting illegally by refusing to accommodate an Afghan asylum-seeking family.

The parents and their three minor children were not granted a place in the Fedasil network, the Belgian agency responsible for housing asylum seekers, when they submitted their application in early August 2025. The authorities justified their decision by stating that the family had already been granted refugee status in Greece, the first country of arrival in Europe. Fedasil then suggested they return to Greece.

Since then, these Afghans have been living on the streets of the Belgian capital.

‘Extremely precarious situation’

In its decision, obtained by InfoMigrants, the court noted that this family “has been in a very precarious situation since [their] entry into Belgian territory” (…), “[its members] having been deprived of support for their basic needs since submitting their asylum application in Belgium.”

The court criticized the State for not individually examining the applicants – disregarding the law – and for not having “taken into consideration” their vulnerable situation, “knowing that the family is composed of three minor children, one of whom requires urgent medical care.”

According to lawyers quoted by the Belgian press, the minister instructed Fedasil to systematically refuse foreigners who were already statutory refugees from another EU country, without examining their personal circumstances—effectively disrespecting the law.

In recent years, Belgium has received an increasing number of asylum applications, particularly from Greece. This is largely due to the fact that, according to applicants, integration in Greece is impossible.

“We’re talking about people who, despite having proper documentation, are homeless there, have been beaten by the Greek police, or have not received treatment despite serious illnesses,” Armelle Philippe, a Belgian immigration lawyer, explained to InfoMigrants last year.

The court underlined that fact, too. “It is proven and widely recognized that refugee status in Greece offers no guarantees and that those who benefit from it actually find themselves in a situation of extreme precariousness,” the Belgian judges wrote.

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‘Fedasil’s clear obstruction’

This is the second time the Belgian state has lost in court over this case. In an August 21, 2025 ruling, the court had already urged Fedasil to accommodate this family. However, the agency refused to implement these decisions “as per the request of the minister,” according to the local press.

In its October 9 ruling, the court criticized “Fedasil’s clear obstruction” and called for “measures to be taken to encourage it to implement the judicial decision, ordering it to accommodate the defendants.”

This decision could serve as jurisprudence: three other foreign families, two couples with one child and a single mother with an infant, are awaiting trial on similar charges.

But will the government respect this ruling? Contacted by InfoMigrants, the Minister of Asylum and Migration did not respond to our requests. When asked by the newspaper L’Echo at the end of September about the large number of convictions against the Belgian state for failing to accommodate asylum seekers, minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt stated that she refused to comply with the judges’ decisions on this matter.

“The minister’s statement is worrying and undermines the constitutional foundations of our rule of law, in particular the separation of powers,” the judges responded in a statement.

Restricting refugee support

In recent years, Belgium, faced with the saturation of its accommodation system, has tightened access to support for refugees. In early August 2025, Brussels adopted a new law that specifically targets people who have been granted refugee status in another European Union (EU) state and are reapplying for asylum in Belgium.

According to the new legislation, individuals who have received a positive response to a previous application for protection in another EU country will no longer be entitled to registration and accommodation upon arrival in Belgium, in the Fedasil or Red Cross centers that often accommodate these new arrivals. In concrete terms, they will be considered irregular in the country and therefore potentially subject to orders to leave the country.

Currently, 3,200 statutory refugees who have been granted protection in another EU country are being cared for in the Fedasil network, out of a total of approximately 35,000 places, according to the agency’s data.