Today, the European Parliament adopted a resolution wrapping up the fact-finding investigation by the Working Group on Frontex Scrutiny with 366 votes in favour, 154 against, and 15 abstaining. The Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) inter alia share concerns over the situation in Greece, Lithuania and Hungary.

The European Crime Prevention Award (ECPA) and Best Practice Conference (BPC) will focus on the trafficking in human beings for the purpose of labour exploitation and other kinds of exploitation.

At a conference today, the European Commission proposed new legislation to prevent and fight migrant smuggling and also launched a call to action for a Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling.

For the EU Anti-Trafficking Day, the European Commission is launching an awareness-raising campaign to inform citizens on the reality of this crime. The European Commission invites every citizen to help raise awareness by becoming part of the ‘End human trafficking. Break the invisible chain’ campaign. 

On the occasion of the European Anti Trafficking Day (on 18 October), PAG-ASA organizes the second Human trafficking awareness week in Brussels! A series of events from 16 to 20 October will give you the opportunity to learn about the issue, better understand its impact on victims and gain insight into the Belgian protection procedure.

As part of an investigation into acts of trafficking in human beings, 30 brothels in the northern district of Brussels have been placed under judicial seal. 25 people were subject to judicial arrest and 23 others were administratively deprived of their liberty.

The national conference organised by EMN Austria this year will facilitate an insightful discussion among experts on the efficient and humanitarian management of EU’s external borders.

A Belgian expert participated in the conference of the Austrian Contact Point to the European Migration Network (EMN) focusing on opportunities and challenges in the management of EU's external borders. Participants inter alia identified the weaponization of migration as a major challenge concerning the protection of EU's external borders.

Frontex revealed today that the number of detections of irregular border crossings at EU’s external borders rose by one fifth (+18%) in the first eight months of 2023 to over 232 350 and that this increase was primarily driven by the number of arrivals through the Central Mediterranean, which remains the main migratory route into the EU. 

Today, the Minister of Justice, Mr. Vincent Van Quickenborne, officially launched the campaign in Liège. On this occasion, he inaugurated the new telephone number - 078 055 800 - of the Belgian helpline for victims of human trafficking.

This hybrid annual conference will debate the latest developments and challenges in the EU’s internal and external border management. It will analyse the latest proposals and reforms on the functioning and operation of EU border management systems, including Schengen, as well as Frontex’ role and responsibilities. A particular focus will be given to the ongoing situation at the EU’s eastern border.

With this awareness campaign entitled "Working together in the fight against human smuggling – Help save lives!", the Police want to encourage both nautical equipment dealers and citizens to report suspicious purchases or movements on the beach to the police via 112, via the 112 app or directly via the 101. 

This conference will examine the issues at the core of the current debates about Schengen like the balance between solidarity & responsibility between States in liaison with secondary movements of asylum seekers, the persistence of controls at Schengen internal borders, the way to monitor human rights at the external borders, the increasing recourse to large-scale databases,...

Today, in the Committee on Justice of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives, Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne announced that Mr. Klaus Vanhoutte, former director of Payoke and one of the experts of the Special Committee on Trafficking in Human Beings and People Smuggling, had been recruited and appointed as national coordinator for the fight against human trafficking and smuggling.

This seminar will examine new findings on how Schengen emerged, how its current design was shaped and which topics are likely to dominate the future political agenda.

The special parliamentary Commission tasked to assess the Belgian legislation and policy on trafficking in and smuggling of human beings adopted today 100 recommendations dealing with various forms of exploitation such as economic exploitation, sexual exploitation, the exploitation of begging, forced criminality, illegal adoption, and forced marriage.

Today, the Commission adopted a Communication on the monitoring of the EU's visa-free travel regimes setting out a consultation process. To address challenges and prevent risks effectively, existing rules concerning the monitoring of the functioning of visa-free regimes with third countries and the suspension of visa exemptions should be re-assessed and improved.

This report is part of the Commission's initiative to further reinforce the Schengen governance through a yearly reporting exercise presenting the state of Schengen, identifying challenges and best practices, as well as priority areas for action. The State of Schengen Report 2023 will serve as basis for political discussions and steer at the Council on 8 June 2023.

Myria has published the first thematic section of its 2023 annual report. This section entitled "Access to the territory" presents the main key figures relating to short and long-stay visas as well as the different reasons and nationalities that stood out in 2022.

Ahead of the Artificial Intelligence Act vote in the European Parliament, a coalition of human rights organisations is calling on EU lawmakers to include provisions in the proposed EU AI Act to protect people from AI surveillance technologies used in migration.

Several major challenges have affected the EU's external borders in recent years, including the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. These multiple challenges impacted figures and trends and urged policy developments which are clearly presented in a briefing released today by the European Parliament. 

Today, the Commission adopted a Communication that presents the strategic framework for European integrated border management (EIBM) for 5 years and a Recommendation to Member States on the mutual recognition of return decisions and expediting returns.

Today the upgraded Schengen Information System (SIS) enters into operation to enhance security and border management in Europe. The renewed SIS is being enhanced to include new categories of alerts, biometrics such as palm prints, fingermarks, and DNA records for missing persons, and additional tools to combat crime and terrorism.

The 2nd European Border Managament Conference was held in Athens on 23 and 24 February 2023. Participating Member States inter alia underlined the importance of effective control of EU's external borders and required legal, financial, operational and technical measures as well as a whole-of-the-route approach to ensure this.