Accueil et répartition des candidats-réfugiés politiques en Belgique

Abstract

Reception and dispersal of political refugees in Belgium Since the beginning of the eighties, Western Europe is facing an enormous increase of the number of asylum-seekers originating from Third World countries. Many of them are actually economic migrants, trying to get access to one or other European country by applying for the status of political refugee. Most of the European nations have since adopted stricter rules to put the brake on this continuing influx. Belgium had not taken any specific measures until 1986, when it was literally overrun by asylum-seekers refused elsewhere. Two kinds of actions have been taken. On the one hand, like in the other countries, conditions of admission and attribution of political asylum have been rendered more severe. Moreover, a dispersal plan has been worked out, with the aim of relieving the big cities, which had attracted until then almost the totality of asylum-seekers. In order to solve the lack of housing there and to come to a fair burden-sharing, an appeal was made to the solidarity of every Belgian commune to absorb a certain number of refugees.