The Commission recommends today that transfers to Greece should be resumed gradually, only for asylum seekers for whom Greece is responsible from 15 March 2017, and subject to individual assurances from the Greek authorities.

At 3pm today, the EMN presents the recently published study on resettlement and humanitarian admission programmes at the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.

The Belgian Contact Point of the EMN organised a conference on labour market participation of beneficiaries of international protection. The event took place on the 8th of November in Brussels (Résidence Palace).

Today, 29 August 2016, the Royal Decree from 3 August 2016 establishing the list of safe countries of origin was published in the Belgian Official Gazette and came into force. Besides the same countries as for previous years, the new list now also includes Georgia.

The European Asylum Support Office launched its first mobile app for smartphones and tablets allowing asylum seekers to quickly find information in English and various non-EU languages (English, Arabic, Sorani, Kumjani and Tigrinya) about the EU Relocation Programme.

On 29 June in Paris, the French NCP of the EMN organised a conference with the objective to discuss labour market integration of beneficiaires of international protection and specific support measures targetting this group, as well as to provide a comparative European perspective.

A law published today in the Belgian Official Gazette limits the duration of the residence permit granted to recognized refugees in Belgium. It will enter into force on 8 July 2016.

The News Release report on 'Asylum in the EU Member States', as well the Statistics Explained 'Asylum quarterly report for the first quarter 2016 are released. These reports provide information on the number of first asylum applications, first instance decisions and pending cases in the EU.

On 15 June 2016, the European Commission reports on progress made in the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement, adopted a progress report on the relocation and resettlement schemes, adopted its second recommendation identifying steps to restore Dublin transfers to Greece

The News Release covers main trends on first and final instance decisions on applications for international protection and on Resettled persons, for the complete 2015 year, in the EU28+ EFTA region.

The EU and Turkey have found an agreement in order to end irregular migration from Turkey to the EU.

This Eurostat News Release covers main trends on first time asylum applicants and on pending asylum applicants for the complete 2015 year in the EU28+ EFTA region.

As of January 2016, the monthly statistics published by the CGRS refer to the number of persons and no longer to the number of asylum cases. In this way, the Belgian statistics conform to the definitions used by European agencies such as Eurostat and EASO.

This EASO newsletter provides information on the election of new executive director José Carreira (PT) and chairman Wolfgang Taucher (AT) of the EASO managment board.