Exceptionally high influx
The CGRS receives many information and acceleration requests from asylum seekers or their representatives regarding their asylum application. Long processing periods lead to uncertainty. Just like other European asylum authorities, the CGRS found itself in an exceptional situation in 2015. In 2015, almost 1.4 million asylum applications were filed in the EU+. In Belgium 44,760 applications were filed, i.e. twice as many as compared to 2014.
Quality first
Within a short period of time, the number of pending asylum applications rose from 5,000 to 18,300 at the end of April 2016. The CGRS made every effort to keep waiting periods as short as possible and to reduce the backlog. Still, some asylum seekers have been waiting for an invitation to an interview for months of more than a year. For the CGRS, a qualitative, thorough and individual assessment remains a priority. Therefore, it is impossible to process all asylum applications at the same time.
More and more decisions
In 2016, 27,678 asylum seekers received a decision, an increase of one third compared to the previous year and the highest number ever. Since May 2016, each month, the CGRS takes more decisions than it receives new asylum applications. The number of pending cases has decreased from 18,300 to less than 14,000. At the end of January 2017, in the whole European Union, 823,397 asylum applications were still being processed.
Invitation to an interview: per profile
The date of the asylum application does not determine the order in which the CGRS invites an asylum seeker to an interview. To be able to work more efficiently, the CGRS plans interviews of asylum seekers with similar profiles (e.g. land or region of origin) within the same period. This also explains that the CGRS sometimes invites asylum seekers with more recently filed asylum applications more quickly than persons who already filed an application earlier.
No chronological case management
Besides, the CGRS is legally obliged to give priority to certain asylum cases: for example cases of asylum seekers in detention, from safe countries of origin or cases containing an aspect of public order. The CGRS also has to process multiple asylum applications or requests to end or revoke an asylum status with priority. Therefore, the case management is complex and not chronological.
End of 2017: every asylum seeker interviewed
By the end of 2017, the CGRS wants to eliminate its backlog as much as possible. By the end of this year, the CGRS must be able to invite every asylum seeker (who currently has filed an asylum application) to an interview, regardless of the country of origin. Once the asylum seeker has been interviewed, he will receive his decision within three months, unless additional processing is needed.
Requests on the state of affairs and acceleration requests
If an asylum seeker has not received any information on his asylum application for quite some time, this does not mean that the CGRS has overlooked the application or that the asylum file is incomplete. It’s no use sending information and acceleration requests to the CGRS. After all, it takes time to process these requests. Time we can use more efficiently to process the content of the applications. Thanks for your understanding.