EMN Belgium visited the team of DEI Belgium - ECPAT to better understand each other's activities and deepen exchanges and opportunities for cooperation. EMN Belgium, for example, learned more about their work to protect migrant children and their parents in reception centres.

The Federal Public Service Justice is currently able to assign a guardian to an unaccompanied foreign minor within the normal period of 8 weeks. However, the demand for guardians remains high in Limburg, Antwerp and Brussels, and the Guardianship Service is still urgently looking for additional guardians.

The Federal Institute for Human Rights launched an investigation into "the growing tendency of Belgian authorities not to implement court decisions that condemn them", inter alia regarding the reception of applicants for international protection. The report following the investigation will be sent to the Chamber of Representatives.

18 November marks the European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. Children are the most vulnerable group in society and children who are migrating, especially if unaccompanied, face an increased risk of being subjected to violence, including sexual violence, exploitation, and human trafficking.

The latest International Migration Outlook 2024 includes a special focus on immigrant entrepreneurship. It highlights that migrants represent a growing share of total entrepreneurs in OECD countries. In 2022, 17% of the self-employed in OECD countries on average were migrants, up from 11% in 2006.

A man suspected of running an operation that supplied small boats and engines to human smugglers who were active in Belgium and northern France was arrested in the Netherlands. The 44-year-old Turkish national faces extradition to Belgium to face charges of human smuggling in the context of the activities of a criminal organisation.

According to Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, 4.048 persons obtained Belgian nationality in August 2024. The main countries of origin of people who acquired Belgian nationality in August are Morocco, Romania, Syria, Italy and France.

Fedasil announced that the Belgian reception network has now a higher capacity than that recorded during the asylum crisis of 2015-2016. However, this capacity is insufficient to accommodate all applicants for international protection who are entitled to reception. At present, 2.650 single men are still on the waiting list for a reception place.

Eurostat released data on unaccompanied minors granted temporary protection in 21 EU Member States and all EFTA countries between March 2022 and September 2024. Austria, the Netherlands and Lithuania have granted the most temporary protection statuses, in absolute terms, to unaccompanied minors since March 2022. Belgium has granted temporary protection status to 1600 unaccompanied minors during the same period.

The High-Level Committee on Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission held its first meeting on 7 November 2024. It will help the Commission define the EU’s two-year Plan that will determine the number of refugees to be admitted to the EU, and the countries and regions from which resettlements and humanitarian admissions should take place. 

On 5 November, the LIBE Committee questioned Magnus Brunner, the Austrian candidate for the Internal Affairs and Migration portfolio. Brunner committed to speeding up the implementation of some elements of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum and showed himself open to considering new ideas to complement it. He also announced that he would table a new Return Directive and strengthen legal pathways to attract the skills that EU labour markets need. 

Fedasil announced that it can temporarily make use of centres in Bredene (Flanders) and in Theux (Wallonia) to accommodate applicants for international protection until March 2025. Both sites have already been used by Fedasil in the past, each time for a period of a few months. 

France notified that controls would take place at its borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, the Swiss Confederation, Italy, and Spain (land, air, and sea) from 1 November 2024 until 30 April 2024. Similar checks were already underway between 1 May 2024 and 31 October 2024 due to the Olympic and Paralympic Games organised in France during the summer 2024. 

From 2014 to 2023, Esperanto provided shelter and support to 156 foreign minors victims of human trafficking and/or aggravated smuggling. According to Myria, who analysed the figures, just over half of these 156 young people were victims of sexual exploitation or were forced to commit criminal acts.

Nicole de Moor said that applications relating to 859 persons have already been processed in accelerated procedure since February 2024. In 96 % of cases, applicants were not granted protection status. Ms de Moor wants to focus more on prevention to prevent people who do not need protection from applying for international protection in Belgium.

In its overview of national forced return monitoring systems across the EU in 2023, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) noted that only one EU Member State did not monitor its national forced return operations in 2023. It also highlighted persistent challenges that affect the transparency and effectiveness of monitoring operations.

On 28 October 2024, the European Commission and the Ministry of Interior of North Macedonia signed an Administrative Arrangement to collaborate in the European Migration Network, making North Macedonia one of the network’s Observer Countries. North Macedonia will contribute to the European Migration Network’s objectives, attending all meetings and contributing to the network’s studies and reports.

As of 24 October 2024, the centre for registering applications for international protection is located at rue Belliard 68 in 1000 Brussels. Applications can still be registered in the Pacheco building until Wednesday, 23 October 2024.

On 21 October 2024, the European Ombudsman closed her inquiry on respect for human rights in the context of the EU-Tunisia Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). She concluded, inter alia, that the Commission should set out the criteria on which the suspension of contracts due to violations of human rights in the implementation of EU-funded projects in Tunisia would be based. These criteria should be made public.

On 17-18 October 2024, EMN Belgium participated in the Odysseus Network Conference 2024 on EU Legislation after the Pact. This event offered EMN Belgium the opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of some of the 485 pages included in the new legal instruments introduced by the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. 

On the occasion of European Anti-Trafficking Day, the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) has warned of the increased risk of human trafficking created by restrictive immigration policies and failure to address the vulnerabilities of migrants and asylum seekers.

During the European Council on 17 October 2024, EU leaders adopted conclusions, among other things, on migration. They called, inter alia, for determined action to facilitate, increase, and speed up returns from the EU. They invited the European Commission to submit a new legislative proposal, as a matter of urgency.

In a recent judgment, the Court of Justice of the European Union found that an administrative authority which rejects an application for a residence permit based on national law and, consequently, finds that the third-country national concerned is staying illegally on the territory of the Member State in question, must ensure compliance with the principle of non-refoulement, by reviewing, in the light of that principle, the return decision previously adopted against that national in the context of a procedure for international protection. 

The Glossary Working Group meets regularly to maintain the EMN Asylum and Migration Glossary up to date. This 62nd meeting, hosted by EMN Belgium, was an opportunity to discuss cooperation with partners, especially in preparation of the inclusion of new terms related to the Pact on Migration and Asylum.

According to preliminary data collected by Frontex, the most significant declines in irregular border crossings were observed on the Western Balkan and Central Mediterranean routes, with a 79% and 64% decline, respectively. The Eastern Land Border and Western African routes saw the highest increases, at 192% and 100%, respectively.