• The prime ministers of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have come together to celebrate the 65^th anniversary of the establishment of the Benelux Union.
• The former president of the Belgian Constitutional Court has urged European governments to nominate more conservative judges and update asylum rules.
• The Belgian Minister of Asylum and Migration has ordered the agency for the reception of asylum applicants to refuse accommodation to vulnerable families.
• A group of Eritrean refugees has appealed to the Government of Luxembourg to intervene to improve their living conditions.
• The Dutch government has announced that it will rewrite part of the controversial asylum law that would have criminalised the provision of assistance to undocumented people.
• The Dutch agency for the reception of asylum applicants has received a record fine after a reception centre exceeded its maximum capacity.
• A group of Syrians who had been living in the Netherlands have been flown to their home country on a charter flight.

The prime ministers of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have come together to celebrate the 65^th anniversary of the establishment of the Benelux Union. On 5 September, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, Luxembourgish Prime Minister Luc Frieden and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof attended the Benelux Summit in Bourglinster (Luxembourg) where they signed a joint declaration in which they affirmed their joint commitment to “the rule of law, democratic governance, and the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms”. In an interview with the RTL media group, Luxembourgish Deputy Prime Minister and President of the Benelux Council of Ministers Xavier Bettel used the occasion to lament the apparent demise of the principles that should underpin the Schengen Agreement: “During Covid, it was said that closing borders would help. It didn’t help. And now, with migration, some claim that closing borders is the solution. What we need are functioning external borders. Then our internal borders remain secure. But today, far-right parties across Europe are creating the impression that borders are the answer”, he warned.

The former president of the Belgian Constitutional Court has urged European governments to nominate more conservative judges and update asylum rules. According to the Euractiv news agency, Marc Bossuyt was tasked by Prime Minister Bart De Wever to draft an opinion on strategies for addressing some of the migration and asylum-concerns that have been raised by several EU member state governments. In the opinion, which has been sent to “a dozen governments”, including Germany, Greece and the Netherlands, Bossuyt argues that a simple step would be to nominate judges to the European Court of Human Rights who favour “judicial restraint” rather than those who advocate “activist interpretations” of human rights law. He also urges governments to “consider pushing for amendments to the Convention, EU asylum regulations or the Schengen Agreement (…) rather than trying to influence court precedents directly”. In addition, Bossuyt suggests that courts have gone too far in their reception requirements for asylum applicants who are returned to another country in accordance with the Dublin Regulation: “A crucial question is whether the obligation to take care of asylum seekers has the same absolute character as to what was originally intended by the prohibition of torture,” he wrote, adding: “A lack of decent reception for asylum seekers is clearly not of the same order as whipping. In none of the EU Member States, there is a real risk that asylum seekers will be whipped”.

The Belgian Minister of Asylum and Migration has ordered the agency for the reception of asylum applicants to refuse accommodation to vulnerable families. In an letter seen by the Belgian francophone public service broadcaster RTBF in September, the Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Fedasil) informed a lawyer representing a family that it was unable to accommodate their clients “at the request of the minster” (Anneleen Van Bossuyt) because they had already been granted protection in Greece. The decision follows a controversial change in Belgian asylum policy that came into effect at the start of August as part of the implementation of the government’s “strictest asylum and migration policy ever”. It also appears to defy an order issued by the Brussels Labour Court for Fedasil to provide the family with accommodation. Commenting on the case, Thomas Willekens from ECRE member organisation Flemish Refugee Action wrote on social media: “The minister has instructed her administration to ignore the judiciary and is using a stay on the streets in Belgium as a means of pressuring people towards “voluntary” return,” adding: “It is the choice of the minister to continue this illegal policy”. Elsewhere, the homeless shelter organisation Samusocial has reported that since the change in government policy, it has also had to turn away large numbers of vulnerable families. “Since then, we have had to refuse nearly 400 families, or approximately 1,500 people,” said Aude Khalfouni who manages an emergency centre in one Brussels borough.

A group of Eritrean refugees has appealed to the Government of Luxembourg to intervene in order to improve their living conditions. According to the Luxembourg Times newspaper, the group held a press conference on 10 September in which they decried the “cramped and overcrowded conditions” to which they were subjected with up to 30 people sharing a single room and others lacking any form of shelter. The public event was held after more than 160 refugees had signed an open letter that was delivered to the government at the end of August. Elsewhere, the Luxembourgish Ombudsman for Children and Youth (OKaju) gave an interview to RTL in which he criticised the poor quality of some accommodation in the country. Speaking about the number of children that were being accommodated in National Reception Office (ONA) facilities, he described the centre in Mersch as an “utterly unworthy” place for families.

The Dutch government has announced that it will rewrite part of the controversial asylum law that would have criminalised the provision of assistance to undocumented people. On 8 September, Minister of Migration and Asylum David van Weel declared that a clause of the ‘Asylum Emergency Measures Act’, which was adopted by the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) in July, would be revised.  “Every form of assistance will no longer be punishable, only the illegality itself”, he said. The U-turn comes after the Council of State warned that providing even limited support for undocumented people – such as “offering them a  bowl of soup” – could become a criminal offence under the new law. The cabinet is reportedly counting on the change to the draft legislation being sufficient to ensure that it is passed by both houses of parliament before the upcoming general election. However, given that parliament will start its pre-election recess on 3 October, van Weel has acknowledged that this is a “very ambitious goal”.

The Dutch agency for the reception of asylum applicants has received a record fine after a reception centre exceeded its maximum capacity. On 9 September, the Ter Apel reception centre hosted 2,034 people. Since a court has ruled that its maximum capacity must not exceed 2,000 people, the breach has resulted in the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) being fined €50,000, payable to the local council in Westerwolde. It is reportedly the first time since November 2024 that the number of people sleeping at the centre has exceeded the agreed maximum limit. According to the COA, the recent rise in the number of people in the centre is due to the closure of a number of temporary locations combined with a failure by municipalities to accommodate people who have already been granted settled status.

A group of Syrians who had been living in the Netherlands have been flown to their home country on a charter flight. According to the Ministry of Asylum and Migration, the 84 people who either had refugee status or were still going through the asylum process were all returning to Syria voluntarily. According to the Dutch public broadcaster NOS, prior to boarding the flight, they all had to sign a document saying that they were withdrawing their asylum applications. The flight on 16 September is reportedly the first time that the Dutch government has used a charter flight to return Syrians to their country of origin. According to the Dutch Repatriation and Departure Service (DTV), more than 700 Syrians have left the Netherlands voluntarily since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. Commenting on the development, DTV Director Simone Steendijk told the ANP news agency: “This experience ensures that our service is better equipped to expand services to Syria, if necessary”.

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