The 36th edition of the EMN Bulletin provides up-to-date information on recent migration and international protection policy developments at EU and national level. 

The EMN has collected data on statelessness from across EU Member States and Georgia to assess progress, draw key findings on the state of play, and provide an overview of how statelessness is addressed. 

The 35th edition of the EMN Bulletin provides up-to-date information on recent migration and international protection policy developments at EU and national level. 

On 20 July 2021, the European Migration Network (EMN) published an overview of Member States’ experiences with new legal pathways in the areas of Talent Partnerships and complementary work-related pathways for those in need of international protection.

The management of data has become increasingly important over the past years, not in the least for the public institutions that are responsible for the applications for international protection. Today, the increased influx of applicants for international protection and the Covid-19 pandemic have increased the need for a more efficient system to collect, store, treat and share data. EMN analysed the state of play and the future developments in the field of data management in the asylum procedure between 2014 and 2020, thereby also taking into account the legal framework that surrounds the field of data management. Additionally, EMN Belgium published a standalone study that highlights the management of data in the Belgian asylum procedure.

This paper provides an overview of EU initiatives on developing and deploying artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to improve border control and border security.

What kind of data is collected by EU Member States and Norway and how is the data managed in the different phases of the asylum procedure? This new EMN Study provides comparable information and examples from 25 countries on different aspects of data management, including data cross-checking against national and international databases, data quality accuracy, and data protection issues. It also maps challenges encountered, and actions taken to respond to them. The study contributes to capacity-building of experts working in the field of asylum and generates a better understanding of the policies and process in place across Europe.  

The Belgian standalone study will be published in the week of 28 June 2021.

The current Belgian government, in office since October 2020, announced that it would replace the Immigration Act by a new Migration Code. In this context, EMN Belgium sought information about the structure of national migration laws of other Member States and the terminology used for migration policies, subjects and institutions, the result of which was compiled and summarized. 

The EMN annual report on asylum and migration provides an overview of the major developments in the field of migration and asylum in Belgium and in the EU in 2020.

The 34th edition of the EMN Bulletin covers the period January to March 2021 and provides an overview of the latest developments in the areas of international protection and migration in the EU and its Member States. In March 2021, Moldova and Georgia joined EMN as observers.

EMN and OECD have published the new Umbrella Inform, which completes the joint EMN and OECD Inform series on the impact of COVID-19 on migration and asylum in the EU Member States and non-EU OECD countries. The series includes 5 Informs and covers a wide range of topics. 

The handbook on migration reporting was produced to help journalists create impartial, fact-based reporting in an engaging way. The handbook was developed in recognition of the role which media plays in shaping public opinion as well as informing the public on various policies on migration.

How do Member States ensure the protection of children in migration procedures, and what measures are in place in relation to guardianship, accommodation, transition into adulthood, and many more? This report from the European Migration Network (EMN), published on 10 March 2021, maps the state of implementation in 2019 of the recommendations laid down in the 2017 European Commission Communication on the protection of children in migration.
 

The 33rd edition of the EMN Bulletin provides up-to-date information on recent migration and international protection policy developments at EU and national level, including the latest relevant published statistics. 

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on return procedures had been significant across EU countries as well as OECD countries in and outside Europe since March 2020. This Inform looks into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on voluntary and forced return procedures and on policy responses. 

For many EU countries, seasonal workers from third countries are crucial to fill temporary, cyclical labour market needs. Since the adoption of the Seasonal Workers Directive in 2016, this specific category of workers can benefit from EU-harmonised admission policies and rights concerning their entry and stay. This study provides a comparative overview of recent trends in seasonal workers coming to the EU and Belgium, and the strategies and practices related to seasonal workers from third countries.

This final report, realised by the Study and Policy Unit of the Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Fedasil), describes the reception of vulnerable applicants for international protection with specific needs. It discusses how (field) staff define, identify and respond to vulnerability in practice. The objective is to develop a better understanding of the way in which Fedasil and its reception partners fulfill the requirement of Belgian and European legislation to meet the specific needs of applicants for international protection.

This report critically reviews the Belgian policy on return, detention and removal of foreign nationals and presents recent figures. Just like Myria's latest migration report, the report focuses on issues related to the right to family life of persons in detention. Myria formulates recommendations to improve the respect for the human rights of those persons. 

The strategic partnership of the European Council for Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) published “The Way Forward – A reflection paper on the new proposals for EU funds on Asylum, Migration and Integration 2021-2027”. This reflection paper addresses the proposals of most relevance to beneficiaries of the current Asylum Migration & Integration Fund (AMIF) 2014-20, and those that are proposed to be implemented by Member States via ‘shared management’ arrangements (National Programmes). It concentrates mainly on the proposed Asylum & Migration Fund (AMF) and European Social Fund+ (ESF+).

This research, commissioned for the eighteenth plenary meeting of the Transatlantic Council of Migration, an initiative of the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), examines the entanglement of immigration with broader concerns about the economic, social and cultural effects of globalization, as well as the public’s growing lack of confidence in government to manage issues such as immigration.

The 24th edition of the EMN Bulletin provides up-to-date information on recent migration and international protection policy developments at EU and national level, including the latest relevant published statistics.

The European Commission has published the new "Feasibility study on sponsorship schemes as a possible pathway to safe channels for admission to the EU". Finalised in October 2018, its outcomes confirm that private sponsorship schemes can efficiently contribute to meeting the goal of promoting safe and legal channels of admission to the EU of those in need of international protection.

The Commission will therefore consider ways in which Member States could be best supported in establishing such schemes.

As independent National Rapporteur on trafficking in human beings for Belgium, for over 20 years Myria has carried out a yearly independent policy evaluation. In its latest report on Human Trafficking and Smuggling Myria focuses on underage victims of trafficking and smuggling of human beings.

In this Myriacts Myria notes that the immigration from the new EU member states is increasing, a proportional decrease in immigration from the EU-15 countries, a considerable and recent reduction in the immigration of Moroccans and Turks and finaly an increase in the immigration from West Asia, especially from countries at war.