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 Luxembourg National Contact Point of the European Migration Network organizes its national conference on 'Moving forward, keeping research relevant- strengthening the research-policy dialogue in the fields of migration and integration' on 24 October in Esch-Beval. 

In preparation for the IMISCOE workshop on 1 December 2017, abstracts focusing on migration aspirations should be sent at the latest today!

The Austrian National Contact Point of the EMN organizes its national conference on "Migration Movement towards Europe: Data Analysis and Alternatives", on 9 October in Vienna.

The Belgian National Contact Point of the EMN organizes a lunch session on the topic of "the illegal employment of third-country nationals in Belgium and in the EU", on 5 October in Brussels.

Today, the Belgian National Contact Point of the European Migration Network organized an event in Brussels to discuss the irregular employment of third country nationals.

From 5 September until 4 October 2017, 11.11.11 organises a series of training sessions on "discussing migration", in several cities in Belgium.

In the summer of 2017, more and more transit migrants, who wish to go to the UK, were staying in the Maximilian park in Brussels. The Belgian government did not want this park to become ‘a new Calais’. A number of transit migrants were intercepted and detained. Because a lot of them were presumed Sudanese, a Sudanese delegation was invited to come to Belgium for identification. Left-wing politicians and NGOs stressed that the Sudanese regime’s human rights record is particularly worrying. Campaigns were organised to better inform the transit migrants. On 04.10.2017 these issues were debated in the Belgian Parliament.

The European Commission published a mid-term review of what has been achieved so far in delivering the European Agenda on Migration. It also sets out new initiatives from the Commission to address key areas, and identifies where further efforts are needed in the coming months.

In order to preserve and strengthen the Schengen area, the Commission is proposing to update the Schengen Borders Code to adapt the rules for the reintroduction of temporary internal border controls to the current needs to respond to evolving and persistent serious threats to public policy or internal security.

The Finnish National Contact Point (NCP) of the European Migration Network organises its national conference "A longitudinal look at migration - global, Europea and national views" in Helsinki on 26 September 2017.

In the framework of the Estonian Presidency of the Council, the Estonian Contact Point of the EMN organized the annual EMN conference on 21 and 22 september in Tallinn. The event gathered key stakeholders who discussed good practices and challenges in attracting and retaining talents in the EU and in the Member States.

The Estonian Contact Point of the EMN will host the EMN Annual Conference entitled “The EU in the Global Race for Talents: Challenges and Solutions in Strengthening EU’s Competitiveness” on 21-22 September 2017 in Tallinn. It is part of the official programme of the Estonian EU Council Presidency.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation to collect evidence, experiences, data and opinions to support the evaluation of the existing EU legal framework for the legal entry and stay of nationals of non-EU countries to the EU Member States. The deadline is 18 September 2017. 

Today, President Jean-Claude Juncker presented next steps towards a stronger, more effective and fairer EU migration and asylum policy.

The judgment in joined cases C-643/15 and C-647/15 Slovakia and Hungary v Council has been delivered by the Court, calling Member States to respect the emergency relocation scheme for refugees, initiated by the EU at the height of the migration crisis

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), published data on recent arrivals in Europe.  Compared with the 273,000 migrants who landed from January through Aug. 27, 2016, about 121,000 arrived during the same period this year. Furthermore, there was no evidence of any migrant dying in the Mediterranean since Aug. 9

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.