2024 sees highest number of asylum applications in a decade

The number of asylum applications in Belgium peaked last year at its highest figure in a decade, according to figures from state secretary for asylum and migration Nicole de Moor (CD&V).

In 2024, 39,615 people applied for international protection, almost 12% more than the previous year. The peak was in October when 4,383 people filed a request – the highest figure since autumn 2015.

The main countries of origin last year were Palestine, Syria, Eritrea and Turkey. The number of Palestinians in particular rose sharply (up 74%) and the number of asylum applications from Syrians also increased (33%).

Almost half of asylum seekers were already registered in another European country, de Moor said, voicing an intent to stop the "proliferation of asylum applications in different countries".

In these cases, a migrant applied for asylum in one or more different European countries but then still travelled on to Belgium and applied again there. Figures show that 15,685 asylum seekers were registered in other European countries last year.

The number of secondary migration cases is remarkably high among Afghans and Georgians in particular.

“We have to make it very clear to people that after a decision in one country, it makes no sense to try again in Belgium,” de Moor said.

“The European Migration Pact gives us more opportunities to counter that kind of secondary migration. The number of asylum applications in Belgium has to come down considerably.”

Under the Dublin Regulation, the first country of registration is supposed to be responsible for processing the asylum application.

But this principle has always been applied piecemeal in practice, partly because it places a disproportionate burden on the main countries of entry, led by Greece and Italy.

Figures for self-declared unaccompanied minors applying for asylum remained high but were slightly less than in 2023, with 2,594 applicants. More than 800 of those were then determined to be adults after age verification.

Belgium’s migration system remains under intense pressure. While a record 34,052 people were processed in 2024, there was still a backlog of more than 26,600 files at the end of last year. At the end of 2021, the backlog stood at just under 12,000 cases.

Apart from internal efficiency measures, additional staff are needed to clear the backlog against the current inflow.

There were just over 1.13 million asylum applications in the European Union as a whole in 2023, including 1,049,550 first applications.

The main country for these first applications was Germany, which alone accounted for 329,000 first-time applicants in 2023. For 2024, there is likely to be a slight fall in the total number of applications across Europe.