Belgium is planning visits to Turkey and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) this year to negotiate agreements on the return of migrants, as part of a renewed focus on voluntary and forced returns under the country’s asylum policy, according to local media reports.

Asylum and Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt has made bilateral negotiations with countries of origin a key priority for 2025, describing the strategy as one of “give and take,” the Belga news agency reported on Tuesday (January 27).

“Those who do not want to cooperate on returns will not be able to count on our full support,” Van Bossuyt said.

Belgium’s asylum services are currently preparing visits to the DRC and Turkey, Immigration Office Director-General Freddy Roosemont confirmed. During the visits, Belgian officials will discuss concrete return arrangements with the relevant authorities.

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Last year, applicants from the DRC and Turkey ranked fourth and fifth respectively among asylum seekers in Belgium, according to Belga.

Roosemont said the visits would also include information campaigns aimed at discouraging irregular migration.

“There are many people in countries of origin who are unaware of what an asylum application actually entails,” he explained. “They believe human traffickers who claim everything is much easier in Europe. It is also our responsibility to provide information and explain that procedures and conditions apply,” he said, according to Belga.

Afghanistan is also a focus of Belgium’s return policy. A technical and administrative mission to the country took place last week as part of a broader European initiative, during which officials held talks with the Taliban authorities on the possibility of returning Afghan nationals. In the spring, a representative of the Afghan administration is expected to travel to Brussels for discussions with the European Union, Belga reported.

Afghanistan was the main country of origin for asylum applicants in Belgium in 2025, according to Belga. Applications from Afghan nationals rose by 11 per cent year on year, reaching 3,947 out of a total of 34,439 asylum requests. Of these, 39 percent were follow-up applications submitted after new elements emerged in applicants’ files.

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'Give and take' approach

Details reported by the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) indicate that Belgium has already participated in talks with the Taliban regarding the return of Afghans with criminal records or lacking identity documents. ECRE reported on Thursday that Roosemont travelled to Kabul in mid-January for a three-day “administrative recognition mission” organized by the European Commission.

Van Bossuyt has said that Belgium does not share the Taliban’s values, but considers limited administrative cooperation necessary to enable deportations. She framed this as part of a “give and take” approach, under which “countries that refuse to co-operate with us on returns cannot count on our full support in other areas,” a position that the ECRE noted could also apply to future engagement with the DRC and Turkey.

However, the ECRE also reported strong criticism from refugee NGOs, which have raised ethical concerns about cooperation with the Taliban and broader issues surrounding Belgium’s asylum and detention policies.

With Belga News Agency and EFE