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.

To raise awareness about illegal employment of third-country nationals in Belgium and the EU, and to draw attention to the EMN studies on this subject, the Belgian Contact Point of the EMN has made a short video.                                      

Two United Nations agencies are joining forces to combat migrant smuggling. They organized an event centering on a Joint Platform on Countering Migrant Smuggling.

Following the adoption of the Cooperation Agreement on the Single Permit Procedure on 2 February 2018, different legislative texts have been adopted at the federal and regional levels in March 2018 to approve this Cooperation Agreement.

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.

In February, Fedasil, the federal agency in charge of the reception of asylum seekers, has signed a framework agreement with the Belgian development agency, Enabel (www.enabel.be).

Today Eurostat published the 2017 statistics on 'Asylum in the EU' on its website. It covers main trends and characteristics of first time applicants and first instance decisions on asylum applications for 2017 in the EU.

At the height of the refugee “crisis” in October 2015, over 7,000 asylum seekers crossed the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece per day. This created problematic conditions for refugees in reception centers and overwhelmed Greece as a first country of entry to the EU. In this setting, the EU-Turkey Statement was concluded with the aim of managing migration across the Aegean Sea and curbing arrivals to the EU. Whilst the Statement was effective in reducing the number of arrivals, it has been met with a series of human rights concerns.

This training session (in Dutch) provided by the Flemish Agency for Integration and Civic Integration aims at providing participants with a basic understanding of international family law.

The European Commission proposes to reform the EU's common visa policy. It also reports on - and calls for - further progress under the European Agenda on Migration. Finally it mobilises additional funding for Syrian refugees in Turkey.

These 2 training sessions (in Dutch) provided by the Flemish Agency for Integration and Civic Integration aim at providing participants with a basic understanding of the different residence statuses in Belgium, the different residence documents, and - to some extent - the associated rights.

These 2 training sessions (in Dutch) provided by the Flemish Agency for Integration and Civic Integration aim at providing participants with a basic understanding of the different residence statuses in Belgium, the different residence documents, and - to some extent - the associated rights.

Today, March 12, 2018 the Law of 21 November 2017 (adopted in the Parliament on Nov. 9) modifying the Immigration Act was published in the Belgian Official Gazette and will come into force on March 22, 2018. 

This training session (in Dutch) provided by the Flemish Agency for Integration and Civic Integration aims at providing participants with a basic understanding of international family law.

Today, the Belgian Minister of Home Affairs, the Belgian State Secretary for Asylum Policy and Migration met with the British Home Secretary in London to discuss the issue of transit migration.

From 21 until 23 February 2018, the Belgian State Secretary for Asylum Policy and Migration, Theo Francken, visited Guinea in order to discuss the questions of – inter alia - irregular migration and return.

Today, Frontex published its Risk Analysis for 2018, which concentrates on the scope of Frontex operational activities and, in particular, on irregular migration at the external borders of the EU and Schengen Associated Countries.

On 22 December 2017, Deputy Prime Minister Jan Jambon, in the name of the government, asked the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) to carry out an independent inquiry regarding the risk in case of return to Sudan. The report was handed over to the government on 8 February 2018. 

This training session (in Dutch) provided by the Flemish Agency for Integration and Civic Integration aims at providing participants with a basic understanding of international family law.

This portal allows any user – whether analyst, scientist, policymaker or interested citizen – to discover a wealth of migration information including data sources, relevant websites, stakeholder organisations, projects, networks and forums related to migration flows, trends and their impact on societies across the EU.