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07/06/2022
BE: The Labour Tribunal of Brussels ordered Fedasil to guarantee accommodation for an applicant who lacked financial means to procure private accommodation and who slept on the street without access to appropriate sanitary facilities and food.

ECLI
Input Provided By
EUAA IDS
Other Source/Information
Type
Judgment
Original Documents
Relevant Legislative Provisions
National law only (in case there is no reference to EU law/ECHR)
Reference
Belgium, Labour Tribunal [Tribunal du travail/Arbeidsrechtbanken], Applicant v Federal Agency for the reception of asylum seekers, 22/1217/K , 07 June 2022. Link redirects to the English summary in the EUAA Case Law Database.
Permanent link to the case
https://caselaw.euaa.europa.eu/pages/viewcaselaw.aspx?CaseLawID=2781
Case history
Other information
Abstract

An applicant requested international protection on 18 May 2022 in Belgium. Following the applicant’s request for international protection, the applicant was not granted accommodation or other material assistance by the Federal Agency for the reception of asylum seekers (Fedasil). The applicant did not have the financial means to procure private accommodation and therefore had no choice but to sleep on the street without access to appropriate sanitary facilities or enough food.  


On 2 June 2022, the applicant submitted a written request for accommodation to Fedasil, through their legal representative. The request outlined the precarious situation of the applicant and instructed Fedasil to reply within 24 hours. On the date of the decision, Fedasil had not yet responded to the applicant’s request.  


Fedasil justified the situation, stating that their reception network was ‘saturated’. Fedasil asserted that their reception network had been operating at full capacity for several months and had an occupation rate of 99% at the time of the decision. Consequently, applicants for international protection who arrived at the National Arrival Centre, Le Petit Chateau, could not be transferred to other reception centres. According to Fedasil, the reception centre at Le Petit Chateau was also operating above capacity.  


The tribunal assessed recent caselaw pertaining to access to reception, including two judgements issued by Brussels Francophone Court of First Instance on 19 and 25 March 2022 which remained unsettled, and concluded that Fedasil persisted in implementing a policy of systematically violating reception laws. The tribunal noted that the saturation of the reception network did not permit Fedasil to derogate from its legal obligations. Furthermore, the tribunal concluded that Fedasil was obliged to provide appropriate reception conditions even in cases where applicants had previously made an application for international protection in another European Union member state, highlighting that the refusal to grant material assistance to individuals who had requested international protection constituted, prima facie, a violation of the Judgement  of 19 January 2022 which ordered Fedasil to unconditionally grant material assistance to all applicants for international protection without delay. In this regard, the court ordered Fedasil to guarantee accommodation for the applicant in the present case either in a reception centre, ILA, hotel or any other suitable establishment that meets the standards outlined in Articles 2 and 60 of the law of 12 January 2007. The tribunal further stipulated that Fedasil would be liable for a fine of €1000 for every night that the applicant is forced to sleep outside after the issuance of the decision.  


Country of Decision
Belgium
Court Name
BE: Labour Tribunal [Tribunal du travail/Arbeidsrechtbanken]
Case Number
22/1217/K
Date of Decision
07/06/2022
Country of Origin
Unknown
Keywords
Reception/Accommodation
Source
agii.be
RETURN