On 10 December 2019, EMN Belgium organized its annual asylum and migration policy event in which recent national and EU developments in the field of international protection, legal migration and integration, and irregular migration and return were discussed. 

This report provides a broad overview of recent trends in international migration flows and migration policies in OECD countries and some non-OECD countries.

The EMN has recently conducted a study on "Beneficiaries of International Protection Travelling to and Contacting Authorities of their Country of Origin”. A short video was created to highlight some of the key findings of this study

_{The conference 'From Tampere 20 to Tampere 2.0: Towards a new programme (2020-2024) for EU migration and asylum policies 20 years after the Tampere conclusions?' was held in Helsinki on the 24th and the 25th of October.}

On 22 October 2019, the Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities (VVSG) published the results of the survey conducted in the spring of 2019. The results show that especially the search for housing for beneficiaries of international protection is very problematic. The regulations state that, in principle, they must leave the Local Reception Initiative (LOI) within two months. As in the VVSG survey of 2017, half of the respondents do not consider this period to be feasible. For almost 1 in 5, finding housing within this timeframe very exceptionally the case, and only thanks to the possibility to extend the stay in the LOI twice by 1 month.

 

On 8 October 2019, Fedasil launched the new information platform www.fedasilinfo.be. The mobile website provides applicants for international protection (asylum seekers) in Belgium with reliable information in 12 languages, 8 of which include an audio version.

On the occasion of the World Refugee Day, which is organized every year on 20th June by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Eurostat published an infographic on annual asylum data for 2018 . Eurostat also published its Asylum quarterly report. In the first quarter of 2019, the number of first-time asylum applicants slightly increased : 4% more compared to the 4th quarter of 2018.

On 24 June 2019 (9:00 - 10:45), EASO will launch its Annual Report on the Situation of Asylum in the EU in Brussels. 

 

Today the English translation of the latest report on Human Trafficking and Smuggling from Myria was published. The 2018 report focuses on underage victims of trafficking and smuggling of human beings.

The Federal Public Service Interior has made a short video about foreign unaccompanied minors seeking international protection in Belgium.

Myria, the Belgian Federal Migration Centre, is recruiting a policy officer to work for the Belgian Contact Point of the European Migration Network (EMN).

Voluntary returns to the countries of origin are decreasing. Among others, this is the result of the lower number of asylum applications during the past years.

At the occasion of this Itinera event, various experts, including Dirk Jacobs (ULB) and Jasper Dag Tjaden (Migration Policy Group), gave their vision from both a Belgian and European perspective on "Education & Integration".

At the occasion of the IE EMN NCP conference in Dublin, a wide audience, including national policy makers and experts as well as representatives from the Commission and other NCPs, discussed protection challenges.

Today, the law from 4 December 2012 modifying the Belgian Nationality Code with a view to making the aquisition of nationality neutral from an immigration point of view, was published.

This Eurostat news release shows that workers remittances amounted to 39.1 billion euro in 2011, up by 2% compared with 2010.

A press release of the national bank of Belgium indicates that the employment rate of persons born in a non-EU country is the lowest of all Member States, namely 45.8 % in 2011.

This recently published information sheet "EU Blue card: Highly qualified workers" provides information on beneficiaries, procedures, statuses, legal basis and appeals in this matter.

The Justice and Home Affairs Council, including the Belgian Ministers Joëlle Milquet and Annemie Turtelboom, and State Secretary Maggie De Block, met on 6 and 7 December 2012. The ministers also discussed issues concerning Immigration and Asylum.

Every month, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless persons (CGRS) publishes a document providing the statistics on asylum applications and first instance decisions.

A "White Marriages" cell has been created in the Special Laws Division of the Brussels South police area. It has started its activities on 3 december 2012.

On 29th November in Paris, the French NCP organised a conference on the CEAS. The next day there was a EMN-Cluster Meeting on reception conditions for asylum seekers in the EU: "existing mechanisms and good practices”

The article, reveals that family-related migration is the main driver for Belgium’s recent transition to a country of permanent settlement, with significant numbers of foreign-born students, workers, and refugees.

In its letter to partners, CBAR BCHV wants to be informed of decisions and judgements refusing the examination of applications from applicants originating from "safe countries of origin".

In a strategic Communication adopted today, the Commission examines how the implementation and development of the common visa policy could help growth in the EU by facilitating travel opportunities for third country nationals willing to visit the EU.