Nicole de Moor

Last updated
Nicole de Moor
Minister for Asylum and Migration
In office
28 June 2022 –3 February 2025
Occupationpolitician

Nicole de Moor (born 1984) is a Belgian politician, a member of CD&V, a Flemish Christian-democratic political party. She served as the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration in the government of Alexander De Croo between 28 June 2022 and 3 February 2025. In that position, she contributed to the European Migration and Asylum Pact during the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2024. [1]

Contents

Early life and career

De Moor studied law at Ghent University and the University of Amsterdam. From August 2008 to May 2009, she was a legal advisor at the Flemish Minorities Center and from May 2009 to November 2013, she was a researcher at Ghent University. In 2014, she obtained a PhD in law with a thesis on international migration due to environmental degradation [2] . From November 2013 to November 2014, she worked as the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons. She was a member of the board of directors of Enabel, [3] the Belgian development agency. Since 2021, she has been a member of the board of directors of the Royal Flemish Theatre in Brussels. She is also a member of the United Nations Association Flanders Belgium.

De Moor is married and mother of two children. [4]

Political career

In November 2014, de Moor was a migration specialist in the cabinets of CD&V ministers Kris Peeters, Nathalie Muylle and Koen Geens, and in October 2020, she became head of cabinet to State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Sammy Mahdi.

At the end of June 2022, the party nominated de Moor as Minister for Asylum and Migration, Deputy to the Minister of the Interior, Institutional Reforms and Democratic Renewal, in the De Croo Government, to succeed Mahdi, who had become party chairman. [4] On 28 June, she took the oath before the king. [5]

Minister for Asylum and Migration

During her mandate, de Moor pushed for the reform of Belgian migration policy, proposing a "controlled migration code" [6] and measures for closer follow-up of people who have to return to their country of origin. [7] [8] However, during her term of office, Nicole de Moor was criticised for her handling of the reception crisis in Belgium [9] . On 29 August 2023, she announced that the Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Fedasil) would no longer accept single men seeking asylum in Belgium. [10] On 13 September 2023, this measure was suspended by the Council of State for violating the right to reception granted to all asylum seekers by the law of 12 January 2007. [11] Despite this suspension, Nicole de Moor maintained her policy. [12] In total, since 2022, Belgium has been condemned 16,669 times for its failures in receiving asylum seekers. [13] Nicole de Moor has openly refused to pay the penalties due as a result of these convictions. [14]

At the European level, Nicole de Moor showed her support for closer European cooperation on migration and collaborated on an agreement on a European Migration Pact, which was adopted during the Belgian EU Presidency. [15]

Controversial candidacy for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

In May 2025, it was officially confirmed that Nicole de Moor, is running for the post of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. [16] She has the support of her party and within the European People's Party (EPP), as well as the Belgian federal government led by Prime Minister Bart De Wever. [17] [18] On 10 September 2025, 17 associations and more than 200 lawyers signed a letter of non-recommendation to the Secretary-General of the United Nations to disapprove of her candidacy. In particular, they stress that during her tenure as Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, Nicole de Moor has consistently violated the human rights of migrants who have come to take refuge in Belgium. [19]

References

  1. ↑ VRT (10 April 2024). "Europees Parlement keurt nieuw migratiepact goed in tumultueuze stemming" [European Parliament approves new migration pact in tumultuous vote].
  2. ↑ de Moor, Nicole (2014). International migration and environmental change : legal frameworks for international adaptive migration (dissertation thesis). Ghent University. hdl:1854/LU-5921652.
  3. ↑ FOD Kanselarij van de Eerste Minister - algemene directie Externe Communicatie (16 December 2022). "Benoeming van een lid van de raad van bestuur van Enabel" [appointment of a member of the board of directors of Enabel].
  4. 1 2 VRT (27 June 2022). "CD&V verrast met nieuwe staatssecretaris voor Asiel en Migratie: wie is Nicole de Moor?" [CD&V surprises with choice for new Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration: who is Nicole de Moor?].
  5. ↑ "Nicole de Moor legt eed af als nieuwe staatssecretaris voor Asiel en Migratie" [Nicole de Moor takes oath as new Minister for Asylum and Migration]. Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 28 June 2022.
  6. ↑ VRT (10 January 2024). "Staatssecretaris De Moor stelt langverwachte migratiewetboek voor, oppositie niet onder de indruk" [State secretary de Moor presents long-awaited migration law, opposition unimpressed].
  7. ↑ VRT (17 January 2024). "Vorig jaar zijn 1.428 gevangenen teruggestuurd naar land van herkomst: "Terugkeerbegeleiders vormen de schakel"" [Last year, 1,428 prisoners were returned to country of origin: 'Return escorts are the link'].
  8. ↑ Bruzz (3 May 2024). "Kamer geeft groen licht voor nieuw aanklampend terugkeerbeleid" [Belgian House of Representatives gives green light to new returns policy].
  9. ↑ "'Depuis deux ans, l'État belge bafoue les droits des demandeurs d'asile', alerte Amnesty - RTBF Actus". RTBF (in French). Retrieved 2025-09-11.
  10. ↑ "Pas d'accueil pour les hommes isolés | Fedasil". www.fedasil.be (in French). Retrieved 2025-09-11.
  11. ↑ Conseil d'Etat. "Suspension de la décision sur les mesures d'acceuil des hommes seuls". 11 September 2025. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  12. ↑ "Malgré l'arrêt du Conseil d'Etat, Nicole de Moor maintient sa position de ne pas accueillir les hommes seuls : « Ma politique ne changera pas »". Le Soir (in French). 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2025-09-11.
  13. ↑ "Crise de l'accueil : la Belgique doit encore plus de 6,5 millions d'astreintes". Le Soir (in French). 2025-08-28. Retrieved 2025-09-11.
  14. ↑ "Crise de l'accueil : la secrétaire d'Etat Nicole De Moor veut éviter toute saisie dans le dossier des astreintes dues par l'Etat - RTBF Actus". RTBF (in French). Retrieved 2025-09-11.
  15. ↑ VRT (20 December 2023). "Wat staat er in het Europese migratiepact? En gaan die maatregelen ook effect hebben voor ons?" [What's in the European migration pact? And will those measures have an effect on us?].
  16. ↑ VRT (14 May 2025). "Nicole de Moor kandidaat om VN-vluchtelingenagentschap te leiden" [Nicole de Moor candidate to head UN refugee agency].
  17. ↑ Het Laatste Nieuws (17 June 2025). "7. Wie krijgt een topjob bij de VN: Alexander De Croo of Nicole De Moor?" [7. Who will get a top job at the UN: Alexander De Croo or Nicole De Moor?].
  18. ↑ Het Laatste Nieuws (14 May 2025). "Nicole de Moor kandidaat om VN-vluchtelingenagentschap te leiden" [Nicole de Moor candidate to head UN refugee agency].
  19. ↑ Ligue des droits humains (11 September 2025). "Lettre de non recommandation de Nicole de Moor". Page Facebook de la Ligue des droits humains. Retrieved 11 September 2025.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Nicole de Moor at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.