Myria, the Federal Migration Centre and independent national rapporteur on trafficking in human beings, published its independent and public annual report "Trapped by debt" on 7 December 2022.

In 2022, Belgium was subject to the third evaluation round of the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. This report analyses in detail how the Belgian authorities ensure access to justice and effective remedies for victims of trafficking in human beings.

How do other EU Member States, and Georgia, recognise diplomas obtained in third countries? This ad hoc query, that Belgium launched in July 2022, focused on the (i) institutional landscape for diploma recognition throughout Europe, (ii) the role of Public Employment Services in this recognition and (iii) best practices that the responding States wanted to share regarding their diploma recognition practices, specifically in the context of the Ukrainian crisis. 20 countries answered the query.

Do Member States grant access to the labour market to family members of international students and, if so, to which family members and under which conditions? This ad hoc query launched by Belgium shows that policies and practices in this matter still vary among Member States.

Trafficking in human beings is a crime against the victim’s fundamental rights. It can take several forms, such as sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery and servitude-related practices, as well as the removal of organs. This practice is prohibited under numerous EU and international instruments. Yet, persistent demand for sexual services and for low-wage workers employed in manual jobs continues to provide opportunities for traffickers to exploit human beings.

EMN in cooperation with the OECD published a new inform ‘Skills Mobility Partnerships: Exploring Innovative Approaches to Labour Migration’. This inform highlights experiences by EU Member States, non-EU countries and international organisations with regards to the introduction of Skills Mobility Partnerships (SMPs), a new concept that promotes a sustainable approach to skilled migration and mobility, with the aim to build skills for the benefit of both countries of origin and destination.

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.

Myria, the Federal Migration Centre and independent national rapporteur on trafficking in human beings, published its independent and public annual report "Behind Closed Doors" on 15 December 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the flow of migrants who planned to enter the EU and OECD countries as workers in essential sectors (e.g. health- and care- workers, hospital auxiliary staff, agricultural workers) as well as those who were residing on a temporary or renewable basis for the purpose of work in these sectors. How did EU & OECD countries respond to the need to prevent labour market shortages during the COVID-19 crisis? An answer to this and other questions can be found in the Inform.

The first EMN and OECD inform on the impact of COVID-19 in the migration area is out. The inform focuses on EU and OECD Member States responses to managing residence permits and migrant unemployment.

Over half of the EU Member States consider that attracting and retaining innovative entrepreneurs and start-ups from countries outside the EU will promote a vibrant entrepreneurial culture. What are the main pull factors and requirements for foreign start-up founders and employees? A new study from the European Migration Network reveals good practices and challenges from Belgium and 24 EU Member States.

This report provides a quantitative overview of migration in rural areas for the entire EU. It contributes to raising awareness of the poorly studied phenomenon of migration to EU rural areas, which is often neglected in research and policies.