The Office of the Commissioner-General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) released its June 2026 asylum data on 15 July. Belgium registered 3 740 first-time applications in the month, up 12 % on June 2025. Afghanistan (612), Palestine (408) and Syria (397) were the main origin countries. CGRS noted a surge in secondary movements from Germany and Austria, reflecting shifting reception-capacity pressures across the EU. The agency has redeployed interview officers to maintain a 10-month average processing time ahead of the EU Pact-mandated six-month ceiling that becomes binding in 2027. For employers, the figures are a reminder that work-permit requests from asylum seekers with pending files – permitted in Belgium after four months – will likely rise, offering an additional labour pool for logistics and agriculture. Fedasil has updated its employment-support toolkit and will brief companies on compliance at a webinar on 22 July. CGRS also flagged data-protection concerns following a Constitutional Court ruling on video interviews; updated guidance on remote hearings is expected later this summer.
Source: CGRS Belgium
