In January 2022, the Refugee Appeals Board upheld the Immigration Service’s decision for a Dublin transfer to Belgium concerning a man who made an application for asylum in Belgium and who claimed that there are serious shortcomings in the asylum procedure and in the current reception and accommodation conditions in Belgium.

The Danish Refugee Council has argued that the complainant’s case should be dealt with in Denmark, since, in the event of a transfer to Belgium, the complainant risks having to spend the night in the street without being able to meet his most basic needs, since the accommodation conditions for Dublin transferees to Belgium are, according to the available background information, questionable. In support of this, the Danish Refugee Council stated that the complainant explained that he obtained a document at the time of his asylum registration in Belgium showing that he was a registered asylum seeker and he was told that he had to find accommodation by himself and that he had to support himself. He was not given any information on where to get help with accommodation or food, he slept on the sidewalk outside the Petit Chateau asylum centre in Brussels, along with about 25 people, including women and children, and he did not have access to baths and toilets, so he had to use public toilets.

The Refugee Appeals Board noted the existence of shortcomings in the Belgian reception system, the interim measures ordered by the ECtHR to the government of Belgium and considered that there are no significant grounds for believing that there are such general systemic flaws in the asylum procedure and in the reception and accommodation conditions in Belgium that any transfer to Belgium under the Dublin III Regulation would entail a risk of inhumane or degrading treatment as defined in Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and in Article 4 EU Charter.

The Refugee Appeals Board has however noted that, according to the information available on the serious deficiencies in the current reception and accommodation conditions in Belgium, in particular as regards the accommodation of single men, prior to the transfer of the person in question, a guarantee is to be obtained from Belgium that the person will be offered reception and accommodation arrangements in accordance with the national legislation in Belgium and the country's EU legal and other international obligations.