The ruling by Belgium’s Constitutional Court suspended recently introduced asylum rules, in a blow to Prime Minister Bart De Wever’s attempts to introduce Belgium's “strictest migration policy yet”.
Belgium’s Constitutional Court on Thursday suspended several of the tougher asylum and migration rules introducted by the current government.
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The court specifically issued two rulings on immigration laws brought forward by the country's right-leaning coalition — known as the "Arizona" coalition due to the colours of the coalition parties which match those on the flag of the US state of Arizona.
Prime Minister Bart De Wever's government has previously said it would implement what it described as the "strictest possible migration policy" in the country's history.
The first of the court's decisions focused on tougher rules regarding family reunification introduced in August last year, which, among other measures, added a two-year waiting period for beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, or people who face a real risk of “serious harm” if returned to their country. The ruling specifically focused on this aspect of the law.
NGOs and organisations working to protect migrant rights argued that this reform "makes family reunification virtually impossible for many families, with serious consequences for children."
Two families, who wanted to make use of family reunification rules and did not agree with the stricter laws, demanded the suspension and annulment of the measures before the Constitutional Court.
The court has now asked the European Court of Justice five questions on how European law should be interpreted "before it can rule on the applicants' criticisms," a statement from the court on the ruling read.
The Constitutional Court will only issue a final ruling once these questions have been answered. Until then, the Court has suspended the new rules on family reunification.
A man referred to as Mr M.S., who fled the war in Yemen and is one of the individuals who appealed to the court to suspend the new law, welcomed the ruling. The new law had prevented his wife and one-year-old child from joining him in Belgium.
"I had to flee Yemen before my baby was born. I hope I can finally hold him in my arms. Every day I am afraid that something will happen to them," he said.
Belgium's Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt responded to the ruling in a statement to Euronews, stressing it only concerns subsidiary protection cases. "This represents a very small fraction of all cases. For all other groups, the rules relating to family reunification remain in place, for example, the higher income threshold, waiting times, etc."
Shelter for asylum seekers
The second ruling concerned several measures related to the reception of asylum seekers, passed in July last year. Belgium is legally obliged to provide shelter to asylum seekers under both domestic law and European Union law.
Under one measure, however, asylum seekers whom have already been granted international protection in another EU country are no longer entitled to reception by Belgium's asylum and migration agency (Fedasil).
"This resulted in many people, including families with minor children, finding themselves on the streets, with no possibility of being accommodated while their asylum application was being examined," Marie Doutrepont, a lawyer at Progressive Lawyers Network representing asylum seekers, told Euronews.
Another measure concerns Belgium abolishing the possibility of assistance taking the form of financial aid under special circumstances.
Several asylum seekers requested that the Constitutional Court suspend and annul both of the above measures.
One of the families bringing the case, referred to as "family B", spent several weeks living rough in Belgium with two young children because they had received protection status in Greece. But Doutrepont said the protection here was ineffective.
The Court ruled that refusing shelter to applicants who have already been granted asylum in Greece is "likely to cause serious harm to these asylum seekers that would be difficult to repair".
"Since it is unclear whether EU law allows Belgium to refuse material assistance in such a situation, the Court referred this question to the Court of Justice of the European Union" for a preliminary ruling, the court statement read.
Van Bossuyt's cabinet explained that there is no annulment of this measure, but rather a suspension of the measures until the EU Migration Pact comes into force on 12 June 2026.
Additionally, the court noted that the abolition of the possibility of reception in the form of financial assistance could also cause harm to asylum seekers.
"This is particularly the case for those who have already submitted an initial asylum application in Belgium and who do not have access to reception facilities due to the saturation of the Fedasil reception network," a court statement read.
Fedasil has for years faced a critical shortage of reception points for asylum seekers. This crisis has led to thousands of court convictions against the agency and the Belgian state, and led to many applicants sleeping on the streets.
The Constitutional Court ruled that the provisions in question appear to be contrary to EU law and several fundamental rights. "The Court therefore orders their suspension and will rule within three months on the appeals for annulment of these provisions."
Minister Van Bossuyt responded that "this problem is virtually non-existent in Belgium at the moment. Due to the current decline in inflow figures, we can accommodate everyone in Belgium who is entitled to it." Her cabinet added that an amendment will be made to the law to address the court's concerns.
A blow to tougher policy?
Critics of Belgium's tougher stance on migration saw the court's rulings as a reprimand of Belgium's approach to migrants and a blow to the government's plans for a stricter policy.
"This sends a strong signal to the Belgian government that it cannot simply ignore fundamental rights, including the right to family life and the right to a dignified existence," Doutrepont said.
However, Van Bossuyt seemingly rejected the idea that the court's rulings will have far-reaching implications. "Belgian legislation is fully in line with the case law of the European Court of Justice. We are therefore confident that the European Court will confirm our legislation."
She added that Belgium's tougher rules will be backed by the EU Migration Pact.
"[This] explicitly states what we have already regulated today based on existing European directives and case law. We are therefore convinced that our measures will be able to be applied when the Pact comes into force."
The EU Migration and Asylum Pact was adopted in May 2024 and marks a sweeping overhaul of EU laws designed to manage migration through stronger border controls, faster asylum procedures and a mandatory solidarity mechanism.