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Frontex revealed today that the number of detections of irregular border crossings at EU’s external borders rose by one fifth (+18%) in the first eight months of 2023 to over 232 350 and that this increase was primarily driven by the number of arrivals through the Central Mediterranean, which remains the main migratory route into the EU.
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Main theme: Borders & Visa
Keywords: irregular border crossing, external border, migratory route
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The organisation reports a huge increase in the number of vulnerable young asylum seekers who disappear in Belgium. The number of disappearances could double this year, compared to 2022 which had 136 cases.
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Main theme: Vulnerable groups
Keywords: unaccompanied minors, disappearance
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In her 2023 State of the Union Address, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, focused inter alia on migration issues. She underlined that an agreement on the New Pact on Migration and Asylum has never been so close.
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Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: New Pact on Migration and Asylum, human smuggling, human trafficking, temporary protection
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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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Today, the European Migration Network (EMN) Belgium was invited to present the results of an upcoming publication to members of the Flemish Agency for Internal Affairs as well as to take part in a coordination meeting between the four integration contact points in Belgium (for Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels, and the German-speaking community).
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Main theme: Integration
Keywords: integration contact point, integration monitoring
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In its judgment in Case T-600/21 | WS and Others v Frontex, the General Court dismissed today the action of a number of Syrian refugees who had brought a claim for compensation before the General Court of the European Union. The applicants claimed that Frontex engaged in improper conduct with regard to them.
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Main theme: Return & Readmission
Keywords: Frontex, return operation, fundamental right
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The European Migration Network (EMN) Belgium was at the European Parliament today for a presentation on “The Power of Labour Mobility Pilot Projects to Support the EU Legal Migration Reform”, organised by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD).
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Main theme: Economic migration
Keywords: labour mobility, pilot project, Migration Partnership Facility
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The European Union Agency for Asylum just released the latest asylum trends for the period January - June 2023. During the first half of 2023, applications for asylum rose to 519.000, a 28 % increase compared to the first half of 2022. As a result of the increase, many EU+ countries are under pressure with processing applications and protecting those in need.
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Main theme: Data & Statistics
Keywords: asylum applications, asylum decisions, asylum figures
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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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As the Big Data for Migration Alliance unveils the “Harnessing Data Innovation for Migration Policy: A Handbook for Practitioners”, the Egmont Institute organizes the handbook launch to discover how non-traditional data sources shape migration understanding.
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Main theme: Data & Statistics
Keywords: data ethics, data protection, data governance
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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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In a national study released in July 2023, EMN Belgium reviews the Belgian policy and practice regarding detention and alternatives to detention. The study clarifies which detention places and alternatives to detention exist in Belgium, how the decision-making process unfolds and how detention and its alternatives are actually implemented.
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Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: detention, alternative to detention
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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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According to data on first residence permits published by Eurostat, almost 3,7 million first residence permits were issued in the EU to non-EU citizens in 2022, a 26% increase (+753 445 permits) compared with 2021. This figure does not include persons granted authorization to reside and benefiting from temporary protection status for which statistics are collected under a separate data collection framework.
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Main theme: Data & Statistics
Keywords: first residence permit
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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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This call for expression of interest is open to all civil society organisations that have experience in the topic "Migrants in Europe today: specific needs, skills and communication for stronger inclusion". They should complete the application form by 14 September.
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Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: European Migration Forum
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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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Myria has published the fourth thematic section of its 2023 annual report. This section entitled "Economic migration, free movement en students" reports that 8.098 long-stay visas were granted for professional reasons to third-country nationals in 2022 (46% more than in 2021) and 19.721 single permits were issued to third-country nationals in 2022 (75% more than in 2021).
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Main theme: Economic migration
Keywords: long-stay visa, single permit, posted worker, student
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In today’s Chamber judgment in the case of Camara v. Belgium, the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 6 (right to a fair hearing) of the European Convention on Human Rights. It could not accept that the time taken by the Belgian authorities in the present case to enforce a court order aimed at protecting human dignity had been reasonable.
