EDAL - Belgium – X v. Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum SeekeBelgium – X v. Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (FEDASIL), Brussels Labour Tribunal, 8 March 2016, N° 5258 rs (FEDASIL), Brussels Labour Tribunal, 8 March 2016, N° 5258

Belgium – X v. Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum SeekeBelgium – X v. Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (FEDASIL), Brussels Labour Tribunal, 8 March 2016, N° 5258 rs (FEDASIL), Brussels Labour Tribunal, 8 March 2016, N° 5258

Country of Decision:	Belgium
Country of applicant:	Iraq
Court name:	Brussels Labour Tribunal
Date of decision:	08-03-2016
Citation:	Brussels Labour Tribunal, 2016, N° 5258

TTrav Ref Prolongation Accueil réfugié reconnu 08 03 2016 (0.57Mo)

Keywords:

Keywords
Procedural guarantees
Accommodation centre
Integration measures

Headnote:

The principle of material continuity applies to the transition from one form of aid to another. A family who has been granted international protection should be accomodated in reception centers for refugees until they benefit from financial assistance and a stable private housing, even if it means extending the deadline to fins accommodation that had been given to them following their recognition as refugees.

Facts:

The applicants, an Iraqi family of five, applied for asylum in Belgium on 18 May 2015. They were granted international protection in Belgium on 19 November 2015, after which they were given two months to leave the refugee center they had been staying in, and find private accomodation.

On 18 January 2016, the family asked the FEDASIL for an extension of the two-month deadline, highlighting the difficulties they were facing in finding housing and jobs as, inter alia,they were not Belgian, had limited knoweldge of Dutch. The Agency refused, arguing that it had already provided the family with a period of two months to ensure the transition to social assistance, while the fact that they could not find accommodation did not constitute an exceptional circumstance justifying the extension of the deadline.

The Agency’s decision was brought before the Urgent Appeal Judge on 8 March 2016.The case was brought as an urgent appeal because, due to the end of material aid, and their failure to ask for social assistance, the family risked finding themselves homeless with three young children in the middle of the winter.

Decision & reasoning:

The tribunal recalled that after an applicant was granted refugee status by the Commissioner-General, material and financial aid should cease and only social assistance from the Centre Public d’Action Sociale (CPAS) can be obtained.

However, the Tribunal reiterated that there should be no interruption between the end of material aid and the provision of social assistance. As it appeared that the family had failed to ask their local CPAS for social assistance, the Tribunal ordered the FEDASIL reception center to accommodate them until they effectively benefited from social assistance.