On Wednesday afternoon in Brussels, Theo Francken, State Secretary for Asylum Policy and Migration, as well as the President of the Community of Sant'Egidio in Belgium and the representatives of the recognized cults in Belgium launched together a humanitarian corridor to accommodate 150 Syrian asylum seekers in optimal conditions.

Today an amending regulation came into force, establishing a new common design and enhanced security features for residence permit cards in the EU.

The Global Conference on Cities and Migration was held on 16-17 November 2017 in Mechelen, Belgium. Local and regional actors requested to be recognized as key actors in migration management and policy making.

Belgium has made progress in a number of areas to combat human trafficking and has managed a considerable number of convictions of perpetrators. Improvements are expected inter alia to enhance the identification of child victims and prevent the disappearances of unaccompanied children. 

A joint European Migration Network & OECD event exploring the topics of family migration and illegal employment took place in Brussels on 9 November 2017.

As of 2 November 2017, family members of foreign nationals who obtained a long term resident status in another Member State and reside in Belgium will not have to obtain a work permit if the long term residents themselves do not require such a permit.

Join the Asylum and Migration Policy Event of the Belgian Contact Point of the EMN in order to discuss the main developments of the year 2017 in the fields of migration and asylum in Belgium. 

This full day conference will provide an opportunity to exchange information on family reunification schemes, in Ireland and abroad. Drawing on the findings of a recently published European Migration Network study the family reunification policy frameworks operational elsewhere in the EU will be discussed and compared.

The Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee are organising a conference on "From Crisis Management Towards Everyday Practice: Lessons from the refugees' integration for future labour market and social policies", on 6 November in Brussels.

The Migration Policy Institute Europe (MPI Europe), the United States Mission to the European Union, the Mission of Canada to the European Union, and the European Economic and Social Committee will organise a conference on 'Social innovation for refugee inclusion: Maintaining momentum and creating lasting change'. 

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.

A joint European Migration Network & OECD event will take place on 9th November 2017. Two thematic sessions are presented within this full-day event: "Challenges and good practices in family migration policies" and "Illegal employment of third-country nationals in the EU: Challenges and solutions".

Today 9 November 2017 is the last day to take part in this public consultation with a view to contributing to the revision of the legal basis of the Visa Information System.

This conference aims to explore the complexity and significance of the migratory phenomenon in the world to come. Key speakers will contribute to the conference.

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.

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.

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