De Tijd and L’Echo reported yesterday (Thursday) that Belgium has had an acknowledged record number of 43 refugees entering Belgium per day this year.
This record number is explained by the response this year to applications from people who actually arrived last year, during the refugee crisis.
This year, 14,241 asylum seekers were acknowledged as refugees.
These figures were produced at the end of November by the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons, the independent body which decides the eligibility of asylum seekers for refugee status.
The body notes an increase of 33% compared to last year when 10,798 people obtained a right to temporary residence.
This may be explained by last year’s refugee crisis. Indeed, those who arrived in 2015 have only received the state’s response to their asylum application this year. Any given case takes between six to twelve months to process.
L’Echo explains that this situation gives an inaccurate impression.
It claims that despite the record number of people acknowledged as refugees this year, the worst of the refugee crisis is in reality behind us.
