35,507 individuals have applied for international protection in Belgium during 2023, as revealed by the country’s Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS).
In 2023, CGRS made 25,356 decisions for 29,885 individuals. In 43.5 per cent of the cases, international protection status was granted.
42 per cent of these decisions were decisions granting refugee status and 1.5 per cent were decisions granting subsidiary protection status.
In 2023, CGRS made 23.6 more decisions than in 2022. According to them, this growth could be attained by hiring new protection officers, resulting in the CGRS having an average of 15 per cent more available protection officers during that period.
Most Applicants Are From Syria, Afghanistan, Palestine, Türkiye, & Eritrea – Only 32% Are Women
CGRS received an average 2,959 applications per month. The majority of applications were submitted from individuals with origins from Syria, Afghanistan, Palestine, Türkiye, and Eritrea.
67.6 per cent of the applicants were men, whereas 32.4 per cent were women. However, in the case of Afghanistan, 89 per cent of applications were made by men.
The highest number of recognised refugee statuses during that period were granted to Syrians (2,689), Afghans (2,595), Eritreans (1,770), and Burundians (1,187). Whereas the highest number of subsidiary protection statuses were granted to Yemenis (152), Somalis (127), Syrians (57) and Iraqis (16).
Almost 6,000 Repeated Applications, Mainly from Afghans & Moldovans
Moreover, 5,918 individuals submitted a subsequent application for international protection. In 2023, the percentage of subsequent applications was higher compared to the previous year.
CGRS highlighted that countries like Afghanistan (31.8 per cent) and Moldova (32.9 per cent) have remarkably high proportions of subsequent applications.
Over 1,600 Applications Filed by Unaccompanied Minors
In 2023, the Immigration Office also recorded 2,594 applicants for international protection claiming to be unaccompanied foreign minors. After the evaluation by the Guardianship Service, 1,660 individuals were temporarily recognized as actual minors.
CGRS further noted that not all evaluations have been finished yet.
87 per cent of the applicants for international protection who declared to be unaccompanied foreign minors, are boys. 26 per cent comes from Afghanistan, 18 per cent from Eritrea and 15 per cent from Syria.
In terms of inadmissibility decisions, mostly involving subsequent applications and those from individuals with protection status in another EU member state, CGRS reported a decrease compared to 2022. However, according to them, the percentage still stands high at 15.8 per cent of all decisions.
In 2022, this was still 17.9 per cent. These cases should be treated as a priority. Inadmissibility decisions left aside, the protection rate amounts to 52.3 per cent.
CGRS
Compared to the previous year, in 2023 the total number of applications for international protection saw a 3.2 per cent decrease. In 2022, CGRS received 36,871 applications, whereas the average of applicants per month was 3,073.
