- 4,621 asylum applications were registered in Belgium in August 2015, an increase of 55.3% compared to July 2015 and of 192.5% compared to August 2014. The increase in the number of asylum applications is unprecedented.
- In August, the main countries of origin were: Iraq (2,160 applications, 46.7 %), Syria (916 applications, 19.8 %), Afghanistan (428 applications, 9.3 %) and Somalia (211 applications, 4.6%). The figure for Iraq has never before been registered for a single country in a single month. The difference between the first and second country (i. e. Syria) in the list has never before been so great. Other EU member states don’t seem to have registered such a strong increase in the number of Iraqi applicants. Applicants of undetermined nationality (1.7 %) and from Russia (1.4 %), the Democratic Republic of Congo (1.2 %), China (1.0 %), Guinea (2.9 %), and Eritrea (0.8 %) complete the top 10 of countries of origin.
- Of the 4,621 asylum applications registered in August, 306 (6.6 %) are multiple applications. The proportion of multiple applications has been steadily decreasing since the start of 2015.
- In August, the total number of decisions taken by the CGRS amounted to 1,107, of which 136 decisions concerned multiple applications (50 decisions taking the application into consideration and 86 refusals to take the application into consideration).
- Among the 971 other decisions (decisions on the substance) taken by the CGRS in August, there were 495 decisions to grant refugee status and 100 decisions to grant subsidiary protection. In August, the protection rate thus amounted to 61.2 % (595 positive decisions out of 971 decisions on the substance).
- At the end of August, the total caseload of the CGRS consisted of 5,872 cases. With a normal caseload of 3,900, the actual backlog consists of 1,972 cases. It has to be noted that most applications introduced in July and August 2015 have still to be communicated to the CGRS by the Immigration Department.
Information about the asylum procedure, tailored to the asylum seeker, can be found at : asyluminbelgium.be.