Number of asylum applications from Congolese nationals doubles
Between January and May this year, 954 Congolese nationals applied for asylum in Belgium — twice as many as in the same period last year — VRT NWS reported on Tuesday.
The figure places Congolese nationals second in this year's asylum statistics, behind Palestinians. Fighting has intensified in eastern Congo since the beginning of the year. The M23 rebel group has taken over the cities of Goma and Bukavu, causing hundreds of thousands of people to flee.
However, fleeing the eastern part of the country has proven extremely challenging. "The area is controlled by the M23 rebels. As a result, millions of people are trapped there," said Koen Vlassenroot, a political scientist and Africa expert at Ghent University.
Internal migration
According to Vlassenroot, many people from eastern Congo are either fleeing internally to neighbouring villages or to Kinshasa, or crossing the border into neighbouring countries. Few asylum applications in Belgium are made by people from the conflict area.
"Almost 70 per cent of asylum seekers say they were born in the region around Kinshasa," said the Immigration Office. "There are virtually no asylum seekers from the east of the country."
According to the Immigration Office, those requesting asylum mainly face social or economic difficulties. Ultimately, only around 10 per cent of asylum seekers from the Kinshasa region are granted asylum in Belgium.
Flags of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Bukavu on 20 February 2025, following the city's takeover by M23 rebels © PHOTO LUIS TATO / AFP
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