Myria continues to receive reports from Palestinians and Belgians who are deeply concerned about the fate of their relatives trapped in extremely dangerous conditions in Gaza. The issues addressed by Myria mainly concern the possibilities of evacuation by the Belgian authorities, as well as the (limited) possibilities for people in Gaza to apply for a Belgian visa.

Myria is in regular contact with the competent authorities to obtain further information and clarifications, and to raise awareness amongst authorities of the issues it has identified. Below, Myria presents the information it has gathered from these exchanges. This information is not exhaustive and does not reflect Myria’s position.

The information below was supplemented, inter alia, by information from the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ answers in the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee on 17/06/2025.

In October 2023, the previous government decided to facilitate the evacuation of:

• Belgians in Gaza and their nuclear family members,
• In Belgium recognised refugees and stateless persons, and their nuclear family members.

Those concerned must be Belgian, recognized as a refugee or a stateless person, and their nuclear family members must have a right of residence in Belgium or a valid visa for Belgium. In some cases, it will also be verified whether the family relationship is registered in the National Register.

Nuclear family members of a Belgian citizen or recognized refugee eligible for evacuation based on the previous government’s decision are:

• the spouse or legal partner and
• minor children.

In addition, the eligibility of the following family members is assessed on a case-by-case basis:

• adult children who are dependent on a Belgian citizen or a recognized refugee,
• parents and minor siblings of a minor Belgian citizen or a recognized refugee who is an unaccompanied minor in Belgium.

Note:

With regard to evacuation, the minority of the unaccompanied minor who is a recognised refugee appears to be assessed at the time of the application for family reunification. This is therefore interpreted differently than in the context of the visa application itself, where, according to Court of Justice case law, the minority is assessed at the time of the application for international protection.

The Belgian evacuation list was drafted based on the above criteria. At the end of April 2025, this evacuation list was closed. Belgium now wants to prioritise the evacuation of the approximately 500 people on this established list.

For people who are not on the evacuation list as it was laid down in late April, it is unclear for now what their prospects of evacuation are. The new government did not take a decision on this yet.

How to apply for this assistance?

Applications must be sent to the Crisis Centre of the FPS Foreign Affairs (crisiscentrum@diplobel.fed.be). The crisis centre assesses each application and carries out the necessary checks. It decides who can be included on the Belgian evacuation list. Unfortunately, this does not guarantee evacuation (see below).

Next steps

While evacuations were previously carried out via the border crossing in Rafah and Egypt, they are organised since March 2025 via the border crossing in Kerem Shalom and Jordan. The names of the people for whom Belgium is willing to facilitate evacuation are forwarded to the Israeli and Jordan authorities. Only if both states give their consent will the people concerned be able to cross the border on a specified date at the Kerem Shalom border post. De exact evacuation dates are determined by Israel. Once they arrive in Jordan, the Belgian authorities should transfer them to Belgium within a short period of time.

Update on effective evacuations

From November 2023 until March 2024, some 500 people were evacuated through the Rafah border post with assistance from Belgium. After the ground offensive by Israel through Rafah, no more evacuations could take place until March 2025, except for medical evacuations specifically for 10 minors with cancer. Since March 2025, very sporadic evacuations appear to be possible again. This initially led to the evacuation of 38 Belgians and their nuclear family members, due to a decision by the Israeli authorities to only grant permission for the evacuation of that group. Since mid-May, the Israeli authorities have reversed that decision and there is again a possible prospect of evacuation of the other people on the established list of 500 (see above). In each case, however, there must also be agreement from Jordan. In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicates that the operations are a priority, but are also particularly delicate, circumstances can change quickly and there are significant security, operational and administrative difficulties.

Persons not entitled to evacuation?

In principle, persons who do not belong to the identified categories of beneficiaries are not included in the evacuation list. However, Myria noted two judgments of the Brussels Court of First Instance ordering the Belgian State to provide assistance to a Palestinian family holding a visa for Belgium (nuclear family members of a person with a single permit and a person with subsidiary protection in Belgium). In at least one judgment, this verdict was upheld on appeal.

Myria receives numerous reports from people wishing to apply for a visa from Gaza in the hope of reuniting with a family member in Belgium.

Applying for a family reunification visa by email

Normally, a visa must be applied for in person at the service provider for the Belgian diplomatic mission in Gaza (VFS). However, this is currently impossible as the office is closed. For a family reunification visa from Gaza, a remote application (by email, jerusalem.visa@diplobel.fed.be) can be sent to the diplomatic mission in Jerusalem (see the website of the Immigration Office - page “How can I apply for a visa”). At present, for the final approval of the visa application, the original copies of the required documents are, however, requested to be submitted to the Belgian diplomatic post in Jerusalem.

Humanitarian visa applications are in principle impossible

For all other visa applications, including humanitarian visas, remote submission (by email) is not permitted at this time. This means that these individuals currently have no means of submitting an application.

Several decisions by the Brussels Court of First Instance have ordered the Belgian State to register humanitarian visa applications submitted remotely by Palestinian families in Gaza. According to the information available to Myria, the Immigration Office meanwhile took a refusal decision on the visa application (after a long processing period) in some of those files. Myria also took note of a judgment where the court did not accept the remote filing. Myria is closely monitoring developments in this area.

Remote application for a humanitarian visa possible for so-called “hybrid” cases

Humanitarian visa applications can be submitted by email in one specific case, namely when they are submitted at the same time as a visa application for family reunification for other members of the same family unit. It thus concerns persons who are not entitled to family reunification themselves but are part of the family of persons who are entitled to family reunification and wish to leave together. An example: the spouse and children apply for family reunification and the spouse's mother (who is not entitled to family reunification) applies for a humanitarian visa. In this case, all of the following conditions must be met:

• The applicants (beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of family reunification) are all living under the same roof in the country of origin or residence (address and joint living); and
• All visa applications (family reunification and humanitarian) are submitted at the same time and there is an intention to travel together; and
• All members of the family unit travel together; and
• The members of this family unit are relatives in the 1st degree, direct or by marriage, ascendent or descendent (the Immigration Office considers siblings of non-accompanied minors to be relatives in the 1st degree); and
• The adult children who are part of the family unit are unmarried and under 21 years of age. This is a tightening since the end of last year, as it was previously 25.

Meanwhile, as the armed conflict has prevented departure from Gaza for more than a year and a half, many family members are in the situation where the validity of a decision approving the visa, or the visa itself, has expired.

Regarding those identified as entitled to evacuation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed Myria that the Immigration Office will be contacted for visa extension once there is concrete prospect of evacuation for those persons. 

However, there is still much uncertainty about how the authorities will deal with visa extensions in the future in situations where family members were not eligible for evacuation or never got evacuated (once departure from Gaza would be possible again).