Today the Commission proposes a new Emergency Assistance Instrument for faster crisis response within the EU.

Today, the Commission confirmed that Greece is in the process of returning 308 irregular migrants to Turkey, as the EU steps up its efforts to ensure that those who do not qualify for international protection will be quickly and effectively returned to their countries of origin or transit.

Today 27 February, numerous platforms and citizens came together for a European March in more than hundred cities in 28 countries, including Brussels where 3000 persons expressed support for the initiative.

Today, the Belgian government approved the plan for the distribution of asylum seekers over the different municipalities of the Kingdom. It will enter into force on 1 May 2016.

The Justice and Home Affairs Council of 25/02/2016 discussed the current migratory situation, including the monitoring of implementation of the measures already agreed at recent meetings of the European Council and Justice and Home Affairs Council.

Today Interior Minister Jan Jambon announced the Belgian government's decision to patrol the border with France until 23 March 2016, alleging a surge in arrivals caused by the closure of the refugee camp known as the "Jungle" in Calais.

As of January 2016, the monthly statistics published by the CGRS refer to the number of persons and no longer to the number of asylum cases. In this way, the Belgian statistics conform to the definitions used by European agencies such as Eurostat and EASO.

On 15th February, a new vaccination campaign has been launched for newly arrived asylum seekers.

Belgium pledged 75 million EUR to be spent on humanitarian aid in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. The aid will mostly be dedicated to initiatives encouraging refugees to stay in their region of origin and providing dignified living conditions.

For the first time in Europe, Fedasil and IOM organized on Monday 1st February 2016 a chartered flight to Baghdad for the voluntary return of 106 persons to Iraq.

The 2015 Annual Report on trafficking and smuggling in human beings is now available in English. This report is produced by Myria, the Belgian Federal Migration Centre and the independent National Rapporteur on trafficking in human beings.

This EASO newsletter provides information on the election of new executive director José Carreira (PT) and chairman Wolfgang Taucher (AT) of the EASO managment board.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation to gather views on the functioning of the existing legislation aiming at preventing and countering migrant smuggling and on what could be done to further strengthen it.

Looking at the migration/refugee crisis, the College of Commissioners looked back at measures taken in 2015 and the initiatives to be presented in 2016 to further develop collective European action and deliver clear and tangible results.

In 2015, the number of asylum applications filed in Belgium doubled compared to 2014, and the protection rate reached an all-time high.

During the first six months of 2016, the Dutch Presidency will work on the priorities agreed with Slovakia and Malta in an 18 month trio programme setting long-term goals for the period January 2016-June 2017.

The European Council on 17-18 December 2015 agreed to speed up actions on the operation of hotspots, the implementation of relocation decisions and returns, the control of external borders and cooperation with third countries.

On the occasion of the International Migrants Day, Myria launches a new online platform, Myriapolis, to help the wider public better understand migration in all aspects of life.

The Migration Policy Center dedicates a website to the migrant crisis in order to provide a wide audience with the facts needed to understand the course of events in this matter.

The Commission is proposing to establish a European Border and Coast Guard and also to introduce systematic checks against relevant databases for all people entering and exiting the Schengen area.

During the third quarter of 2015 (July to September 2015), 413 800 first-time asylum seekers applied for international protection in the Member States of the EU, a number almost double that of the second quarter of 2015.

The conference of the Belgian National Contact Point to the EMN– which took place on 4 December in Brussels – focused on challenges and opportunities associated with the return of irregular and vulnerable migrants.

The package of programmes is the single biggest EU measure in response to the Syrian refugee crisis to date.

Justice and Home Affairs Ministers met in Brussels to discuss how to strengthen the following measures, inter alia: EU Passenger Name Record Directive, controls of external borders, information sharing and law enforcement cooperation.

The Commission is referring Belgium for failing to transpose the Single Permit Directive. The Commission proposes a daily penalty of 52,828.16 euros.