The CGRS has published the asylum figures for April 2018.
NEW TERMINOLOGY
- The EU asylum procedure directive was transposed into Belgian law and came into force at the end of March, which led to a change in terminology. For example, we do no longer speak of an asylum seeker but of an applicant for international protection. The terms single and multiple asylum application are no longer used. Instead, we speak of first application and subsequent application.
- Regarding the decisions, we do not longer speak of a decision to take an application into consideration or a refusal to take an application into consideration. Those decisions do no longer exist and have been replaced by a decision of admissibility or inadmissibility.
- Another novelty is that in case of a border procedure, the CGRS can now decide that further assessment is needed (article 57/6/4 of the Aliens’ Law). The CGRS can also decide that an application for international protection is manifestly unfounded (article 57/6/1 §2 of the Aliens’ Law).
APPLICATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION
- In April, the Immigration Office registered 1,515 applicants for international protection. Each person (including children) is counted separately.
- Another 196 persons came over to Belgium through resettlement in April. As a result, the total number of applicants in April is 1,711, a slight decrease compared to March 2018 (1,779).
- In April 2018, Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq lead the top 10 of countries of origin of applicants for international protection. Palestine, Georgia, Albania, Eritrea, Guinea, Somalia and Russia completed the top 10.
DECISIONS
- In April 2018, the CGRS took 1,464 decisions, concerning a total of 1,903 persons.
- In April 2018, the protection rate amounted to 57 %.
WORKLOAD
- The total workload of the CGRS corresponds to the number of cases in which the CGRS has not yet taken a decision.
- At the end of April 2018, the total workload amounted to 6,445 cases (8,367 persons). With a normal workload of 4,500 cases, the actual backlog amounts to 1,945 cases.