On July 28, 1951, the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees was formally adopted

Migrants from third countries represent around four percent of the total EU population. The
composition of EU's population is thus changing. This leads to new conditions for social cohesion and government response to public concerns.

EU leaders on 24 June agreed to establish a "safeguard mechanism" allowing the re-introduction of internal borders in exceptional circumstances

This week 25 refugees from Eritrea and Congo, who got into a deadlock in Libya, arrived in Belgium.

Every month, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons publishes a document containing the statistics on the asylum applications and the decisions taken.

The Belgian Immigration Office started the SEFOR Project, which aims at ensuring the follow-up of the migrants having received an order to leave the territory, if they are effectively returning to their country of origin, voluntarily or not (SEFOR meaning "Sensibilisation, Follow-up, Return)

The Statistical Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has developed an inventory of information sources and institutions dealing with migration issues. Called migratory, this inventory identifies over 1800 sources located in the UNECE region.

The European Council has launched its virtual Resource Centre on Free Movement & Migration

The new EASO Office began some of its activities in November 2010, and is since 19 June 2011 fully operational

On June 22, 2011, the Justice Commission found no agreement on the draft bill of several Flemish political parties concerning the tightening of the acquisition of citizenship in Belgium

The Council Directive 2003/109/EC has been amended by the Directive 2011/51/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2011 to extend its scope to beneficiaries of international protection

EMN presents its synthesis report of the EMN study ‘Satisfying Labour Demand through Migration ’. Source of this publication are the different national studies, carried out in 2010 by the National Contact Points (NCP's) of the EMN.

On 9 and 10 June 2011, the Justice and Home Affairs of the Council of the European Union took place in Luxembourg. On the agenda of the home affairs ministers stood, amongst others, amendments on FRONTEX-rules and the Schengen evaluation of Bulgaria and Romania.

Every month, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons publishes a document containing the statistics on the asylum applications and the decisions taken.

This final Conference that took place on 15th June 2011 has presented some of the outcomes of research conducted within the framework of the European project Improving EU and US Immigration Systems' Capacity for Responding to Global Challenges: Learning from experiences

On 1 June 2011, the European Commission presents its revised proposals amending the Directives on Asylum Procedures and on Reception Conditions.

Every month, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons publishes a document containing the statistics on the asylum applications and the decisions taken.

The Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism (Centre) publishes the English version of its Annual Report on Trafficking & Smuggeling 2009, which was published in French and Dutch in October 2010

This ACP-EU Council of ministers addressed questions of migration and discussed progress in the ongoing ACP-EU dialogue on migration. Ministers agreed to reach concrete results to strengthen the operational cooperation in the areas of visa, remittances and readmission over the coming year.

On May 24, 2011, the European Commission presented its proposals for a better managment of migration flows from the Southern Mediterranean region and for amendements to the Visa Regulation

On 19 May 2011, the 14th EU-Russia meeting on justice and home affairs took place in Russia

The King Baudouin Foundation (KBF) launches a call for papers on research on migration and integration policy Deadline for papers: 19 October 2011

EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecila Malmström presented the paper at a press conference on 4 May 2011

VALENTINA POP - EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - France on Sunday blocked the passage of Italian trains in order to prevent Tunisian migrants from entering its territory, a move promptly slammed by Rome. EU council chief Herman Van Rompuy meanwhile appealed for Paris not to "exaggerate" the migration issue