Belgium Set to Introduce Some of the Toughest Anti-Immigration Measures

With the new Minister for Asylum and Migration coming into power, those seeking asylum or looking into the possibility of moving to Belgium should expect quite tough requirements.

According to the local media reports, the new Migration Minister, Anneleen Van Bossuyt, plans to implement new measures for foreigners coming into the country, impacting all sorts of migrants; asylum seekers, those seeking to reunite with their families in Belgium, with measures such as border controls also being in the talks, Schengen.News reports.

The new minister has been appointed just recently by the Belgian PM, Bart De Wever, and has previous experience in energy and climate issues.

New Migration Minister Reveals Stricter Measures to Strengthen Immigration Control
Minister Van Bossuyt raised concerns about human trafficking and how the demand for asylum is quite high, with as much as half of these requests being filed by people who had already been granted asylum in another country.

She agrees with the new government introducing the strictest measures to date and says she “is pleased on how we want to implement that strictest migration policy.”

Family Reunification Cases Must Go Down, Minister Says
One of the measures that the Minister revealed during an interview for HLN, included reducing the record number of people coming to Belgium for family reunification, which she implied that it is sort of getting out of hand.

According to the Minister, 21,000 people came to Belgium from outside the EU for family reunification purposes in 2024, and this sort of situation is prompting the new government to impose stricter income limits.

Another measure that the new government plans to implement is introducing more stringent requirements for those who apply for social assistance. A language and integration test in the candidates’ country of origin will be mandatory while the waiting period for social assistance will also be extended.

There is an exception for recognised refugees, who can lose or increase their benefits, depending on how well they are integrated into society.

The Dublin agreement, which aims at an equally distributed number of asylum seekers across Europe, will no longer be practised by Belgium, as the Minister noted that the new government will no longer provide shelter to people who have been granted protection elsewhere or applied for asylum in another Member State.

Source: https://schengen.news/belgium-set-to-introduce-some-of-the-toughest-anti-immigration-measures/