In 2024, nearly 40,000 people applied for international protection in Belgium – the highest number since 2015. However, owing to the government’s failure to provide everyone with the accommodation and other services they were entitled to, thousands ended up sleeping on the streets, in car parks, or in camps, for months. Many people were extremely vulnerable, having fled conflict or endured torture or persecution because of their political views or sexual orientation.

Many undocumented migrants also struggled to access housing and healthcare, making them susceptible to illness and mental health problems, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

In response, our mobile teams offered medical consultations and psychological support to asylum seekers, migrants, and foreign unaccompanied minors living in precarious conditions and centres managed by several partner organisations across Brussels. We also conducted health promotion sessions, stepped up infection prevention and control activities, and administered vaccines to children. 

Following seven years of work at the humanitarian hub, we handed over our activities there to Médecins du Monde. This allowed us to focus on helping asylum seekers and migrants in harder-to-reach locations in Brussels and across Belgium, including along the border with France. 

In addition, we consolidated our network of medical volunteers, who provide second medical opinions for people held in administrative detention centres throughout the country. 

As Belgium toughened its immigration policies and anti-migrant narratives increased, we also scaled up our advocacy efforts, calling for effective access to care for all, and for the authorities to uphold national and international laws concerning the rights of applicants for international protection and of people in administrative detention centres.