The Federal Council of Ministers has recently taken different measures to reduce the pressure on the reception network of Fedasil and to enable the reception of all asylum seekers.

Friday 29 September 2023, the government decided to set up an operational task force in charge of finding and opening new temporary reception places (at least 2,000 places).

These temporary places would be added to the initiatives already planned in the "Winter Plan" of the State Secretary for Asylum and Migration, Nicole de Moor, and are intended to anticipate the arrivals of the coming months and to get through this winter period.

The task force gathers several ministerial cabinets (Prime Minister, Asylum, Public service, Defence, Home Affairs...) as well as administrations (Fedasil, Defense, National Crisis Centre...). The first meeting took place on Tuesday 3rd October. Different concrete avenues were discussed. The needs were also identified in terms of reception capacity but also in terms of logistics, administration, budget and human resources.

Fedasil is satisfied with this first constructive meeting. The stakeholders agreed to meet again next week to rapidly find solutions for the reception network.

The Fedasil reception network currently counts 34,400 places. Despite this significant number, Fedasil is not able to provide a reception place for all asylum seekers. There are currently 2,500 persons (isolated men) on the waiting list – many of them are accommodated in the homeless sector in Brussels. Families are also received in emergency accommodations in the Flemish youth sector.