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MSF has worked with migrants and other vulnerable people in Belgium since 2017.

For the past few years, we have offered mental health care for migrants in Brussels. Today, our psychologists offer counselling and mental health support as part of a complete package of services for migrants and refugees transiting in Belgium. 

In 2021, we noticed an increasing number of unaccompanied minors left on the streets of Brussels. In October, we decided to open a reception centre in collaboration with partners. More than 300 young migrants found protection, orientation through the programme.   

Following the reception crisis of 2022 and the dire situation of asylum seekers left on the streets of Brussels, we opened a mobile clinic in September, where women, children and men can access medical and psychological care. 

Our activities in 2022 in Belgium

Data and information from the International Activity Report 2022

MSF in Belgium in 2022 The situation for migrants and asylum seekers in Belgium reached crisis point in 2022, with more than 8,000 individuals, including young children, left on the street without any support.
Belgium IAR map 2022

In view of the government’s failure to provide shelter to people seeking protection, and in order to address their increasingly unmet medical needs, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) opened a temporary medical clinic in front of the Immigration Office registration centre in Brussels in October 2022. Here, our teams witnessed a considerable number of medical issues directly linked with poor living conditions.

Through consultations, we identified the first cases of diphtheria among migrants in Belgium, a disease that can be directly linked to people’s precarious living conditions, but which is easily preventable through vaccination. As a result, our teams decided to launch a vaccination campaign to address the rising number of diphtheria cases among people living in squats and on the street.

We continued, in collaboration with other NGOs, to run our humanitarian hub in Brussels, where we provide psychological consultations. Patients needing more specialised care are invited to make an appointment with psychologists in our mental health clinic, which is located next door.

In addition, MSF outreach teams assisted people experiencing homelessness and migrants living in squats and shelters by providing medical consultations, health promotion, and infection prevention and control activities. 

 

in 2022
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MSF Belgium

HUB Brussels