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The Flemish Bar Association obtained in court that the Immigration Office provide lawyers with a detailed organisation chart allowing them to enter directly into contact with the employees handling the cases they are defending.
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Main theme: Migration
Keywords: transparency, Immigration Office
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The campaign aims to raise awareness among people in Guinea of the dangers of irregular migration, such as the risk of exploitation and dangerous crossings. People are also made aware of local employment opportunities and legal migration channels.
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Main theme: Irregular Migration
Keywords: prevention campaign, awareness campaign, Guinea
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The Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGVS) announced on 20 October 2023 that the notification of decisions granting or refusing subsidiary protection status to applicants from Gaza and the West Bank is suspended until the CGRS has sufficient objective information to assess the security situation in the Palestinian territories accurately.
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Main theme: International Protection
Keywords: Gaza, West Bank, refugee status, subsidiary protection status
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After the terrorist attack perpetrated by an illegally staying failed asylum seeker in the centre of Brussels on 16 October, various policymakers plead for better follow-up of failed asylum seekers and stricter enforcement of orders to leave the territory.
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The federal government has reached an agreement today on the 2024 budget. While 1.2 billion euros will improve the budget balance, 500 million euros will cover additional needs, including in the asylum and migration field.
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Main theme: Reception
Keywords: federal budget, reception crisis
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Since 2013, Belgium has already resettled more than 4,500 refugees. To celebrate the importance of the program, Fedasil organised today an event bringing together key national and international partners such as the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons, UNHCR, IOM, Foreign Affairs, the Immigration Office and Caritas International.
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Main theme: International Protection
Keywords: resettlement
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The department "Alternatives To Detention" (ATD) from the Immigration Office organises walk-in counters for illegally staying persons who wish to receive ICAM coaching, every Wednesday from 9 until 12h in Brussels, Antwerp and Liège.
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Main theme: Irregular Migration
Keywords: individual case management, durable solution, illegally staying person
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On the proposal of the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor, the Council of Ministers approved today a draft royal decree relating to the granting of material assistance to applicants for international protection benefiting from professional income.
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Main theme: Reception
Keywords: material assistance, professional income, reception cost
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As part of an investigation into acts of trafficking in human beings, 30 brothels in the northern district of Brussels have been placed under judicial seal. 25 people were subject to judicial arrest and 23 others were administratively deprived of their liberty.
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Main theme: Smuggling & Trafficking
Keywords: sexual exploitation, human trafficking
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On the proposal of the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor, the Council of Ministers agreed today that people who live outside the reception network receive information and support from Fedasil. The Council of Ministers approved an action plan and funding for this purpose.
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Main theme: Reception
Keywords: Fedasil, socio-legal support
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The Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor is already making it clear that Belgium will not respond positively to the request for relocation of migrants who have arrived in Lampedusa. This position is mainly explained by the shortage of reception places in Belgium.
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Main theme: Asylum
Keywords: relocation
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Today, the Council of State ruled that the use of the extreme emergency procedure was justified and that the decision not to offer shelter to single male asylum seekers violates the right to reception that asylum seekers have by law.
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Main theme: Reception
Keywords: reception law, reception directive, right to reception
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The first residents have arrived today in the reception center in Alveringem (West Flanders). These are Syrian families who were resettled from Lebanon.
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Main theme: Reception
Keywords: reception centre, resettlement, resettled refugee
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Flanders has published a new list of medium-skilled shortage occupations open to migration which enters into force today. The new list has been adapted to the current economic reality and labor market situation - it now contains 29 positions.
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Main theme: Economic migration
Keywords: shortage occupation, labour market
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Walloon Minister-President Elio Di Rupo has written to Prime Minister Alexander De Croo to call for the regularisation of undocumented immigrants capable of working in jobs in short supply, reports L’Echo.
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Main theme: Economic migration
Keywords: labour shortage, shortage occupation, regularisation, single permit
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Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor has decided to temporarily stop receiving single males in the national network for the reception of asylum seekers. Through this decision, the Secretary of State intends to anticipate “the growing influx of families and children to absolutely avoid children ending up on the streets in winter.”
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Main theme: Reception
Keywords: reception crisis, reception centre, single male asylum seeker
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The Federal Institute is tasked with regularly examining the situation of persons deprived of their liberty through preventive visits, making recommendations to the competent authorities and proposing legislation and verifying its compatibility with international standards.
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Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: detention, human rights, closed centre
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Fedasil has a budget for financing specific projects relating to the reception of asylum seekers (and other reception beneficiaries). The Agency has launched its call for projects for the year 2024. In 2024, the focus will be on projects that focus on the activation and participation in society of asylum seekers staying in the reception network.
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Main theme: Reception
Keywords: call for projects, activation policy, employment
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Today, the first residents have arrived in the new reception centre in Walcourt, which can host 49 asylum seekers. Other residents, mainly families, will arrive gradually over the next few days.
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Main theme: Reception
Keywords: reception centre
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According to Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, 3.721 persons obtained Belgian nationality in May 2023. The main countries of origin of people who acquired Belgian nationality in May are Morocco, Syria, Romania, Afghanistan and Italy.
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Main theme: Citizenship & Nationality
Keywords: access to nationality, Belgian nationality
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As part of his “Turbo Plan”, Flemish Minister for the Interior and Civic Integration, Bart Somers (Open VLD) wants newly-arrived third-country nationals without a high school diploma to undergo training in order to be able to practice a bottleneck profession. This training would be part of the civic integration programme.
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Main theme: Integration
Keywords: civic integration programme, shortage occupation, on-the-job training
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The Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration tasked the Immigration Office to implement a prevention campaign to make people in Nigeria aware of the dangers of human trafficking, exploitation and the risks associated with irregular migration.
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Main theme: Irregular Migration
Keywords: prevention campaign, human trafficking, Nigeria
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Today, the Minister of Justice, Mr. Vincent Van Quickenborne, officially launched the campaign in Liège. On this occasion, he inaugurated the new telephone number - 078 055 800 - of the Belgian helpline for victims of human trafficking.
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Main theme: Smuggling & Trafficking
Keywords: blue heart campaign, victim of trafficking
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The CGRS has published the asylum figures for June 2023. The Immigration Office registered 2,740 applicants for international protection. Another 15 persons were registered in the framework of resettlement. As a result, the total number of applicants in June is 2,755.
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Main theme: Data & Statistics
Keywords: asylum figures
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The list of safe countries of origin, which is revised once a year, was updated on 7 April 2023 and is now published in Belgium’s Official Journal. At present, the following countries are considered as safe countries of origin: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and India.