The Academy of European Law (ERA) organizes its annual conference on EU Border Management between 9 June 2021 and11 June 2021. 

On 5 May 2021, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted the Action Plan on Protecting Vulnerable Persons in the Context of Migration and Asylum in Europe (2021-2025) to increase cooperation among member states to protect the most vulnerable persons.

From 7 until 9 July 2021, the International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion in Europe (IMISCOE), a European network of scholars in the area of migration and integration, will hold its annual conference. The event, entitled "Crossing borders, connecting cultures", will be held entirely online.    

On the 9th of May, the European Union celebrates 'Europe Day'. This day commemorates the date of the Schuman Declaration, which was the starting point for today’s European Union.

Le Commissariat général aux réfugiés et aux apatrides (CGRA) lance un nouveau site Internet asyluminbelgium.be, afin d’informer les demandeurs de protection internationale de la procédure en Belgique et ce, dans 9 langues et en adaptant les informations aux besoins du demandeur. 

Le 15 décembre, l’EMN Belgique et l’EMN Return Expert Group organiseront un séminaire d’une demi-journée sur les alternatives à la détention pour les migrants en séjour irrégulier. Cet évènement online mettra l’accent sur le cadre juridique actuel en matière d’alternatives à la détention, la mise en œuvre de ces alternatives et l’identification de nouvelles bonnes pratiques et projets-pilote intéressants.

Le nouveau Secrétaire d’Etat pour l’asile et  la migration, Sammy Mahdi (CD&V) a présenté sa note de politique générale sur l’asile et la migration au Parlement.

On October 21, the joint EMN-OECD inform on "Maintaining labour migration in essential sectors in times of pandemic" will be launched with a webinar.

On 16 September 2020, the Interior Committee of the Belgian House of Representatives held a parliamentary hearing on a legislative proposal concerning the prohibition of detention of minors. EMN Belgium contributed to the hearing by presenting the laws, policies and practices in other EU Member States.

This year's Austrian National EMN Conference will focus on migration forecasts, scenarios and early warning systems, in order to predict migration developments.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the substantial measures taken by EU and OECD countries to prevent the spread of the virus are having direct and indirect impacts on international students coming to those countries. While the long-term consequences are difficult to predict, the immediate impacts are already visible, for example, the processing of new applications or renewing of residence permits has in many cases been hindered or suspended, with consequences for international students already present in the host country. In addition, the abrupt downturn in economic activity has had a significant impact across many sectors, with international students facing the loss of their part time jobs or reduced or lost incomes, which could have an impact on their ability to continue their studies or find a job or start a business following their graduation.

Le Bilan 2019 de Fedasil présente les évènements marquants et les principales statistiques en matière d'accueil, de retour volontaire et de réinstallation au cours de l'année écoulée. Le Bilan 2019 est marqué par la hausse du nombre de personnes à accueillir et pour lesquelles plus de 5000 places temporaires ont été ont été créées en 2019.  

En raison de la pandémie COVID-19, les entretiens personnels des demandeurs de protection internationale au CGRA ont été interrompus en mars. Ils ont recommencé en juin. Pour améliorer la sécurité du personnel et des candidats, une vidéo avec des instructions pratiques a été créée.

On 25 June 2020, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) will launch the 2020 edition of its annual flagship EASO Asylum Report. Due to the COVID-19 situation, this year EASO will be holding an online event to present and discuss the findings of the report, as well as developing asylum trends in the EU. 

The event will serve to launch the 2019 edition of the EMN Annual Report on Migration and Asylum. It also seeks to provide the latest information on Member States responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

EMN a récemment mené une étude sur les statuts nationaux de protection existant en Belgique et au sein l'UE. Une courte vidéo a été créée pour mettre en lumière certaines des principales conclusions de cette étude.

Aujourd'hui, EMN Belgique a lancé un compte Twitter pour mieux diffuser ses résultats.

Border closures and quarantine rules to prevent the spreading of Covid-19 risk having a negative impact on seasonal work. To address labour shortages in the agricultural and horticultural sectors, the federal and regional governments decided to adopt a series of measures in the spring of 2020.

En 2020, EMN Belgique va continuer de contribuer aux multiples produits de EMN sur la politique de migration et d'asile dans les États membres de l'UE. De cette manière, EMN Belgique continue de contribuer à une politique de migration et d'asile dans l'UE et en Belgique fondée sur des preuves.

Each year, the Odysseus Network organizes a Summer School in EU immigration and asylum law and policy. The courses tackle the most recent legislative, jurisprudential and political developments in the field at EU level.

Voluntary returns to the countries of origin are decreasing for the third consecutive year.

The Academy of European Law organises its Annual Conference on European Immigration Law.The aim of the conference is to provide legal practitioners with an update on recent developments in the EU legal migration system and the mechanisms put in place to tackle labour and skills shortages and to reinforce the attractiveness of the EU for key workers.  

Le 10 décembre 2019, EMN Belgique a organisé son événement annuel sur la politique d'asile et de la migration au cours duquel les récents développements nationaux et européens dans le domaine de la protection internationale, de la migration légale et de l'intégration ainsi que du retour et de la migration irrégulière ont été discutés.

The conference 'From Tampere 20 to Tampere 2.0: Towards a new programme (2020-2024) for EU migration and asylum policies 20 years after the Tampere conclusions?' was held in Helsinki on the 24th and the 25th of October.

On 22 October 2019, the Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities (VVSG) published the results of the survey conducted in the spring of 2019. The results show that especially the search for housing for beneficiaries of international protection is very problematic. The regulations state that, in principle, they must leave the Local Reception Initiative (LOI) within two months. As in the VVSG survey of 2017, half of the respondents do not consider this period to be feasible. For almost 1 in 5, finding housing within this timeframe very exceptionally the case, and only thanks to the possibility to extend the stay in the LOI twice by 1 month.