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.

The European Council on 17-18 December 2015 agreed to speed up actions on the operation of hotspots, the implementation of relocation decisions and returns, the control of external borders and cooperation with third countries.

On the occasion of the International Migrants Day, Myria launches a new online platform, Myriapolis, to help the wider public better understand migration in all aspects of life.

The Migration Policy Center dedicates a website to the migrant crisis in order to provide a wide audience with the facts needed to understand the course of events in this matter.

The Commission is proposing to establish a European Border and Coast Guard and also to introduce systematic checks against relevant databases for all people entering and exiting the Schengen area.

The European Commission has today presented a recommendation for a voluntary humanitarian admission scheme to create a system of solidarity and responsibility sharing with Turkey for refugees from Syria.

During the third quarter of 2015 (July to September 2015), 413 800 first-time asylum seekers applied for international protection in the Member States of the EU, a number almost double that of the second quarter of 2015.

The conference of the Belgian National Contact Point to the EMN– which took place on 4 December in Brussels – focused on challenges and opportunities associated with the return of irregular and vulnerable migrants.

The package of programmes is the single biggest EU measure in response to the Syrian refugee crisis to date.

Justice and Home Affairs Ministers met in Brussels to discuss how to strengthen the following measures, inter alia: EU Passenger Name Record Directive, controls of external borders, information sharing and law enforcement cooperation.

The Commission is referring Belgium for failing to transpose the Single Permit Directive. The Commission proposes a daily penalty of 52,828.16 euros.

On 11-12 November, the Valletta summit on migration brought together European and African Heads of State and Government in an effort to strengthen cooperation and address the current challenges but also the opportunities of migration.

On the occasion of an informal meeting following the Valletta Summit, heads of state or government focus on the migration crisis, the future of Schengen and cooperation with Turkey.

Home Affairs Ministers focused in particular on speeding up the relocation process, strengthening the EU's external borders, fighting human trafficking and smuggling, and return and readmission.