The workshop will shed light on the challenges and best practices of the application of the Temporary Protection Directive in Germany, the Netherlands, and Lithuania. The participants will also discuss future scenarios to ensure the continued protection of Ukrainians.

On 11 June 2024, the European Commission proposed to extend the temporary protection for people fleeing Russia's aggression against Ukraine for another year, from 5 March 2025 to 4 March 2026. The Council still needs to formally adopt the proposal.

During a joint webinar, experts from the European Migration Network and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development highlighted the positive trends characterizing the labour market integration of Ukrainians, including employment rates and their progress, main sectors of employment, and most common policies and measures for facilitating labour market integration. They also identified the difficulties and remaining challenges in this domain.

This webinar will showcase key findings from the new joint EMN-OECD Inform on the "Labour market integration of beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine". These findings will be contextualised by drawing insights from other international organisations and highlighting specific approaches and measures adopted by different host countries.

On 2 May 2024, the Chamber of Representatives adopted in plenary session the draft law for a proactive return policy. This law inter alia introduces the obligation for the foreigner to cooperate in the return process and it expands the pool of return escorts. The law also enshrines the principle according to which minor children aren't retained in closed centres.

On 26 April 2024, the Council of Ministers approved, upon proposal by the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor and the Secretary of State in charge of the Buildings Administration Mathieu Michel, the public procurement for new closed centers in Jabbeke and Jumet.

A large delegation from the federal government, accompanied by senior police officers and senior administration officials, is leading a mission to Morocco. The fight against illegal immigration and the return policy are among the priority issues discussed with the Moroccan authorities.

The Flemish Red Cross confirmed that the emergency village built in Mechelen in May 2022 for Ukrainians will close its doors in a few months. The rental contracts expire at the end of June 2024 and the Flemish Red Cross wants to help the 319 people still staying there find sustainable housing by then.

On a proposal from Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden, the Council of Ministers approved a preliminary draft law defining the powers that members of the European Border and Coast Guard would have on national territory during official missions.

The Expert Conference on Return and Reintegration, jointly organised by Belgium’s Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Fedasil), the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), and the Migration Policy institute Europe (MPI-E) marked a significant moment during the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU.

On the occasion of the second anniversary of the activation of the TPD, this Migration Policy Institute Europe webinar will discuss what will happen when the TPD expires in a year’s time. The findings from comparative research in Latin America, Turkey, and Europe on approaches to temporary status and the arc of public support for displaced persons will also be presented.

Of the 14.779 Ukrainian refugees registered with the VDAB, 45 percent (6.599) have already worked and 27 percent (4.045) are still working. Some argue that more should be done to guide them into work, inter alia encouraging language learning in the workplace.

The Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration announced today that a new software was in the process of being developed with the digital product studio "In the pocket" to better manage information relating to the stay of third-country nationals in closed centres. 

During a visit to the prison in Beveren, the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration said that more illegally staying detainees are being sent back directly from prisons, through the work of the return counsellors in the detention facilities. 

The Return Expert Group (REG) within the EMN conducted a successful workshop dedicated to advancing multistakeholder governance towards case resolution of undocumented migrants. Facilitated by EMN Belgium and the Belgian Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Fedasil), this event focused on fostering connections between national authorities, local administrations and civil society organisations (CSOs). 

In a press release published today, Doctors of the World declared that it opposes a new article of the draft law presented by Nicole de Moor, providing for the possibility of carrying out medical examinations under constraint to facilitate the forced return of third-country nationals. Doctors of the World says this measure risks further complicating access to health care for these particularly vulnerable people.

Nicole de Moor presented today a draft law which aims, in accordance with the federal government agreement, to enshrine in law a proactive return policy. The draft law inter alia provides for the obligation to cooperate in the return procedure and for the intensive individual follow up of third-country nationals who have received an order to leave the territory.

After the terrorist attack perpetrated by an illegally staying failed asylum seeker in the centre of Brussels on 16 October, various policymakers plead for better follow-up of failed asylum seekers and stricter enforcement of orders to leave the territory.