VALENTINA POP - EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - France on Sunday blocked the passage of Italian trains in order to prevent Tunisian migrants from entering its territory, a move promptly slammed by Rome. EU council chief Herman Van Rompuy meanwhile appealed for Paris not to "exaggerate" the migration issue

Plans for an update of the asylum procedures directive for a more fair and effective asylum procedure throughout the EU were backed by MEPs.

This Eurostat Newsrelease is presenting an overview of the asylum trends in the EU27 for the year 2010.

The Council adopted the new directive on trafficking in human beings as proposed by the Commission last spring

The Belgian National Contact Point participated in an international workshop on “Migration challenges for pre-accession countries in South-East Europe” in Belgrade and gave a lecture on "The European Migration Network and other international instruments.

The communication services of the CGRS and of Fedasil have jointly published, with the support of the European Refugee Fund, an information brochure “Asylum in Belgium”.

The European Commission presented an EU agenda for reinforcing the rights of the child. It includes a series of concrete actions, including promoting specific safeguards and procedural guarantees for children seeking asylum and child specific reception measures.

Commissioner Malmström presents Action Plan on visa liberalisation with the Republic of Moldova

Returning asylum seekers to Greece violates the European Convention on Human Rights, says ECtHR

The federal State Secretary for Migration and Asylum Policies Melchior Wathelet has given a pressconference presenting the asylum and migration policies in 2010 and providing an overview of some statistical data.

Frontex held an inauguration ceremony in Piraeus, Greece, on October 1 for the opening of its pilot Frontex Operational Office (FOO).

To follow the progress of migrants in the host society and to identify the spheres in which policy measures should be taken, we must increase the asylum and immigration longitudinal data.