Belgium Employment Tribunal Rules Pregnant Syrian Asylum Seeker May Receive Benefits (November 12, 2014) [1]
On November 12, 2014, a Belgium Employment Tribunal (the Tribunal) ruled [3] (French only) that a pregnant Syrian asylum seeker and her family could stay in Belgium and receive benefits despite their entry into Europe through Spain and Spain’s agreement to take charge of the family under the Dublin III Regulation. According to a blog post [4], the Belgium Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Fedasil) had “informed the applicants that they were not entitled to benefit from material aid as they had not originally requested accommodation from Fedasil and an appeal against the decision taken by the Belgian Aliens Office had not been lodged by the family.” The Tribunal noted “the risk attached to travel for the Syrian female” and relied on “Article 7 of domestic reception legislation [5] [French only] which allowed for a prolongation of material aid to a pregnant asylum seeker who was required to leave the territory” under the Dublin regulation [6]. The Tribunal determined that under Belgian law, “it was the legislator’s intention to provide material aid to a person who could not be transferred to another State under Dublin due to pregnancy and thus the applicants had a right to benefit from this aid.”