This workshop, jointly organised by the Migration Policy Center (MPC) and the Mercator Forum Migration and Democracy (MIDEM), will provide a platform for presenting and discussing empirical research on public attitudes toward migration, the sociopolitical mechanisms driving migration-related polarisation, and the policy responses addressing these challenges.

In a recent study, the European Parliament Research Service (EPRS) recommended clarifying the scope of criminal offences in the Facilitation Directive to ensure that only activities involving organised criminal networks are included and called for the explicit exemption of humanitarian actions aligned with international protection from criminalisation.

In the note submitted to the Chamber of Representatives, Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt described the current situation as operationally, financially, and socially untenable. She announced her intention to urgently submit, as an initial step, a package of crisis measures to address the ongoing asylum and reception crisis. Additionally, she outlined a broader range of measures covering key aspects, including asylum and reception, migration, the protection of vulnerable groups, return and security, the social welfare system, and access to Belgian nationality.

On 12 March 2025, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) announced that it would temporarily suspend the notification of decisions granting subsidiary protection, refusing refugee status and refusing subsidiary protection status from applicants from the West Bank until they have access to sufficient objective information to accurately assess the general situation in the West Bank.

According to Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, 4.370 persons obtained Belgian nationality in December 2024. The main countries of origin of people who acquired Belgian nationality in December are Morocco, Syria, Romania, Afghanistan and France.

The European Commission has released a proposal for a regulation establishing a common system for the return of third-country nationals staying illegally in the Union. The new rules introduce, among other things, stronger obligations for returnees and the legal possibility of returning individuals who are illegally staying in the EU and have received a final return decision to a return hub in a third country. The European Parliament and the Council of the EU must now examine and negotiate the proposal.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in the case of F.B. v. Belgium, finding that Belgium failed to provide sufficient procedural safeguards in the decision-making process regarding the applicant’s age assessment. The Court concluded that this process violated her right to respect for private life under Article 8 of the European Convention. In particular, it highlighted the lack of informed consent and the failure to explore less intrusive methods before conducting medical tests.

The European Commission has launched a call of expression of interest to renew the composition of the “EU Civil Society Platform against trafficking in human beings”. Civil society organisations that are legally based in EU Member States and have demonstrated experience in the protection of and assistance to victims of trafficking in human beings are invited to apply before 5 March 2025.

EU Home Affairs Ministers approved a roadmap for the gradual implementation of the Entry/Exit System (EES) starting in October 2025, the revised Eurodac database set to become operational in June 2026 and ETIAS in late 2026. Ministers also reached broad agreement on facilitating go-and-see visits for Syrians in the EU to assess conditions in their home country without losing their protection status, as well as on measures to return Syrian nationals who pose a security threat or have been convicted of crimes.

The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) has released its annual analysis of asylum trends in 2024. The EU+ received approximately 1.014 million asylum applications, reflecting an 11% decrease compared to 2023. This decrease concentrated in the second half of the year as the application trend deviated from the typical seasonal pattern.

In 2023, 1.050.100 people obtained citizenship of the EU country of their usual residence, an increase of 6.1% compared with 2022. This was mainly the result of increases in absolute terms in Spain (58.600 more residents were granted Spanish citizenship than in 2022), followed by Germany (33.200 more) and Belgium (6.700 more)

In a coordinated effort to combat human trafficking, Europol hosted an international operational action from 25 to 28 February 2025, bringing together experts in analysis, OSINT (Open Source Intelligence), and investigations from 12 countries, including Belgium. The operation focused on detecting and disrupting human trafficking networks operating online, particularly those exploiting Ukrainian nationals.

In 2024, 1.261 detainees were forcibly returned from Belgian prisons, down from 1.428 in 2023 and 1.511 in 2022, according to the Immigration Office. The most represented nationalities among those returned were Albanians, Moroccans, and Algerians. This decline comes amid ongoing challenges linked to prison overcrowding and changes in early-release policies.

The European Commission has adopted its 2025 work programme, with key initiatives including the first five-year European Migration and Asylum Strategy. This strategy will provide a strategic framework for continued work under the Pact on Migration and Asylum, building on the national migration and asylum strategies of EU Member States.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Belgium has granted temporary protection to 93.343 Ukrainians, with a sharp decline beginning in 2023 and continuing into 2024 and early 2025. As the number of arrivals has slowed and the focus shifts to integration efforts, both the Flemish and Walloon governments plan to gradually reduce reception capacity for beneficiaries of temporary protection in the coming months.

A recent report published by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), which analyses case law from 2020-2024, highlights that EU-level and national court decisions are guiding national practices to shift to a more gender-sensitive approach in international protection.

The European Network on Statelessness organises an annual webinar to provide participants with a state of play on statelessness in Europe and an opportunity to learn about the latest developments. 

About sixty Eritrean refugees gathered in front of the Town Hall in Ghent to draw the authorities' attention to the impact of the housing crisis on their situation and integration prospects. The authorities expressed their intention to find solutions but called on Minister of Asylum and Migration Anneleen Van Bossuyt to address this issue together. They also stated that they would consider a European response to this widespread problem.