On 12 December 2018, the Belgian contact point of the EMN 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, human trafficking and return were discussed. 

Following the release of its EASO Guidance on reception conditions: operational standards and indicators in December 2016, EASO has just issued the EASO guidance on contingency planning in the context of reception.

The government approved on 24 March 2018 a new reduction plan for reception places for applicants for international protection. Today the reception network consists of 23,815 reception places. This should be reduced to 16,629 reception places in 2019, of which 10,044 collective places and 6,585 individual reception places. With this plan, the network returns to the level preceding the reception crisis.

Today, the Belgian Contact Point of the European Migration Network organized its national conference, which focused on the main developments in the field of migration and asylum that took place in Belgium in 2017.

On the 26th of October 2017 the general policy note on asylum and migration of the State Secretary for Asylum and Migration was published. The policy note provides an overview of the main achievements and priorities in the field of asylum and migration.

The State Secretary for Asylum Policy and Migration Theo Francken and the Walloon Minister for Employment have signed on 29 August a collaboration agreement intended to foster the socio-professional insertion of asylum seekers.

Today, the restricted Council of Ministers has approved the proposal of the State Secretary for Asylum Policy and Migration to create a single registration centre for asylum seekers in Neder-Over-Heembeek.