Date of the decision: 16 December 2022
Country: Belgium
Jurisdiction: Council of Europe – European Court of Human Rights (Decision on interim-measure from asylum-seekers in Belgium)
Legal basis: Rule 39 § 2 of the Rules of Court
Subject:
The recent interim measures granted by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in cases concerning homeless asylum-seekers in Belgium have brought attention to the issue of an alleged overcapacity in the country's asylum reception system. The ECtHR recently granted an interim measure to the Belgian State for 143 adult male applicants who had received a final domestic decision from the Brussels Labour Court, ensuring that the state provided them with accommodation. However, the court rejected the requests for interim measures of 57 applicants who had not yet received a final domestic decision, and some applicants withdrew their requests as they had obtained accommodation.
Similar interim measures have been granted by the ECtHR in cases such as Camara v. Belgium (application no. 49255/22) and Msallem and 147 Others v. Belgium (application no. 48987/22 and 147 others), and the court has also announced interim measures in other cases, including Reazei Shayan and 189 Others v. Belgium (application no. 49464/22 and 189 others) and Almassri and 121 Others v. Belgium (application no. 49424/22 and 121 others). The ECtHR only grants such measures in exceptional circumstances where the applicants would otherwise face a real risk of irreversible harm.
It is important to note that measures under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court are decided in connection with proceedings before the court, without prejudging any subsequent decisions on the admissibility or merits of the case. The ECtHR has a specific section dedicated to the "Saturation of the network for receiving asylum-seekers" in its Factsheet on Interim measures, indicating that the situation is under scrutiny.
More info and the text of the decision can be found on HUDOC database.
English
Jurisdiction:
Council of Europe - European Court of Human Rights
Subject:
Migrant rights
Country:
