On 27 January, the Migration Policy Institute organizes a webinar on "European Union Third-Country Partnerships: Where Do We Go From Here?"

Today a new law enters (partly) into force inserting a general residence condition into the Immigration Act. The Immigration Office can now put an end to a residence permit if the person cannot put forward provable integration efforts.

The Passenger Name Record (PNR) law has been adopted in Parliament in December 2016. It was published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 25 January 2017. On the basis of this law, carriers will be obliged to send data on their passengers travelling from, to, or across Belgium to a central database.

Ahead of the meeting of Heads of State or Government in Malta on 3 February 2017, the Commission and the High Representative/Vice-President have set out their contribution to the discussion on how to better manage migration and save lives along the Central Mediterranean route.

Today, the Commission is taking stock of the progress achieved and the work still needed in making the new European Border and Coast Guard Agency fully operational.

This training focuses on residence rights and employment of foreign nationals working for embassies, consulates or international institutions in Belgium.

The Platform on Statelessness of the European Migration Network, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the European Network on Statelessness organized the conference "Addressing Statelessness in the European Union, One year on from the adoption of European Council Conclusions". 

According to the Missing Migrants Project, an estimate of 7495 men, women and children migrants or refugees died or were reported missing across five continents in 2016. That is almost 20 victims per day and the number may not include them all.

In 2016, there was a sharp drop in the number of asylum applications in Belgium, and the number of decisions taken by the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons reached an all-time high.

From 1 January to 30 June 2017,  Malta will hold the presidency of the Council of the EU. The presidency will focus on 6 key areas: migration, single market, security, social inclusion, Europe's neighbourhood and maritime sector. 

CRIPEL and CEDEM Ulg organize a study afternoon to present the key elements of the reform and address other questions including integration, access to social rights and work market.

At the occasion of this Itinera event, various experts, including Dirk Jacobs (ULB) and Jasper Dag Tjaden (Migration Policy Group), gave their vision from both a Belgian and European perspective on "Education & Integration".

At the occasion of the IE EMN NCP conference in Dublin, a wide audience, including national policy makers and experts as well as representatives from the Commission and other NCPs, discussed protection challenges.

Today, the law from 4 December 2012 modifying the Belgian Nationality Code with a view to making the aquisition of nationality neutral from an immigration point of view, was published.

"Carrefour des Cultures" proposes a cycle of 5 cine debates putting forward women migrants who, by their trajectories and actions, go against stereotypes concerning them. Space is left open, after screening, for exchanges around the themes at stake.

During this discussion on the integration of newcomers in Wallonie, three projects will be examined more closely, namely the CIRÉ desk for newcomers in Ixelles, the regional integration centre in Charleroi and Couleur Cafe in Malmedy.

This Eurostat news release shows that workers remittances amounted to 39.1 billion euro in 2011, up by 2% compared with 2010.

A press release of the national bank of Belgium indicates that the employment rate of persons born in a non-EU country is the lowest of all Member States, namely 45.8 % in 2011.

This recently published information sheet "EU Blue card: Highly qualified workers" provides information on beneficiaries, procedures, statuses, legal basis and appeals in this matter.