Dozens of asylum seekers waiting at the entrance of the Fedasil registration center Petit Chateau in Brussels, Monday 25 July 2022. Credit: Nils Quintelier / Belga

Only 288 recognised refugees are currently in a federal reception waiting to find a place to live, according to Fedasil, the Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers.

On Thursday, the non-profit organisation Orbit, which works on super-diversity and migration, reported that 1,600 recognised refugees are currently stuck in shelters, due to a shortage of housing in Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia.

Fedasil disputes that. “At the moment, 1,690 recognised refugees are in the reception network, but not all of them are stuck. The majority of them are within the defined transition period. They have two months to find a home,” said Mieke Candaele of Fedasil.