Belgium Grants Asylum to Over 14,000 Applicants in 2016

The current numbers were 33 percent higher than in 2015 when Belgium accepted almost 11,000 people as refugees, according to the Belgian Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — Belgian immigration services have granted refugee status to over 14,000 asylum seekers so far in 2016, which means that some 43 people were receiving refugee status every day, local media reported on Thursday, citing the Belgian Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons.

The total number of successful asylum applications in 2016 was expected to exceed 16,000, the Echo newspaper said.

The current numbers were 33 percent higher than in 2015 when Belgium accepted almost 11,000 people as refugees, the newspaper added.

Belgium, along with other EU states, is currently facing a migration crisis with hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing violence and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa and heading for Europe.