The Belgian State Secretary for Asylum Policy and Migration carried out information missions in Albania and in Georgia, respectively in April and June 2018.

The EASO Annual Report on the Situation of Asylum in the European Union 2017 provides a comprehensive overview of developments at European level and at the level of national asylum systems. Based on a wide range of sources, the Report looks into main statistical trends and analyses changes in EU+ countries as regards their legislation, policies, practices, as well as national case law. 

Today, 10 families with a humanitarian visa arrived in Zaventem. They will apply for international protection once in Belgium. They will be hosted in Christian communities, in cooperation with Caritas, during the first year.

Home Affairs Ministers met in Brussels and discussed inter alia the Dublin reform which gripped the political center stage of the broader asylum debate.

On the 31st of May and 1st of June, the Bulgarian Contact Point of the EMN - in the framework of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council - organized the EMN Annual Conference. The conference was dedicated to  challenges and success factors in managing migration flows. 

The Royal Decree of 23 April 2018 introduced changes with regards to extending or ending the stay of international students. It details – inter alia – in which cases an order to leave the territory can be issued to a student when he/she extends his/her studies in an excessive manner considering the results.

In this report, the Commission is reporting on progress made under the European Agenda on Migration and the Commission's roadmap from December 2017, and is setting out further key actions to be taken.

Eurostat published a statistical analysis on the number of unaccompanied minors who applied for international protection in 2017. the 31,400 applications represent an important decrease compared to previous years. 

In 2018, the European Migration Network (EMN) celebrates its 10 year anniversary. On this occasion, the EMN organized a conference on 15 May in Brussels.

Commissioner Avramopoulos has congratulated the EMN on it's approaching 10th anniversary in a speech. 

In a judgment handed down today, the EU Court of Justice responded to a Dutch prejudicial question on family reunification of (unaccompanied minor) refugees. Following the reasoning of the Court, an unaccompanied minor who attains the age of majority during the asylum procedure retains its right to family reunification.

Following the release of its EASO Guidance on reception conditions: operational standards and indicators in December 2016, EASO has just issued the EASO guidance on contingency planning in the context of reception.

To raise awareness about illegal employment of third-country nationals in Belgium and the EU, and to draw attention to the EMN studies on this subject, the Belgian Contact Point of the EMN has made a short video.                                      

Two United Nations agencies are joining forces to combat migrant smuggling. They organized an event centering on a Joint Platform on Countering Migrant Smuggling.

Following the adoption of the Cooperation Agreement on the Single Permit Procedure on 2 February 2018, different legislative texts have been adopted at the federal and regional levels in March 2018 to approve this Cooperation Agreement.

The government approved on 24 March 2018 a new reduction plan for reception places for applicants for international protection. Today the reception network consists of 23,815 reception places. This should be reduced to 16,629 reception places in 2019, of which 10,044 collective places and 6,585 individual reception places. With this plan, the network returns to the level preceding the reception crisis.

In February, Fedasil, the federal agency in charge of the reception of asylum seekers, has signed a framework agreement with the Belgian development agency, Enabel (www.enabel.be).

Today Eurostat published the 2017 statistics on 'Asylum in the EU' on its website. It covers main trends and characteristics of first time applicants and first instance decisions on asylum applications for 2017 in the EU.

The European Commission proposes to reform the EU's common visa policy. It also reports on - and calls for - further progress under the European Agenda on Migration. Finally it mobilises additional funding for Syrian refugees in Turkey.

Today, March 12, 2018 the Law of 21 November 2017 (adopted in the Parliament on Nov. 9) modifying the Immigration Act was published in the Belgian Official Gazette and will come into force on March 22, 2018. 

Today, the Belgian Minister of Home Affairs, the Belgian State Secretary for Asylum Policy and Migration met with the British Home Secretary in London to discuss the issue of transit migration.

From 21 until 23 February 2018, the Belgian State Secretary for Asylum Policy and Migration, Theo Francken, visited Guinea in order to discuss the questions of – inter alia - irregular migration and return.

Today, Frontex published its Risk Analysis for 2018, which concentrates on the scope of Frontex operational activities and, in particular, on irregular migration at the external borders of the EU and Schengen Associated Countries.

On 22 December 2017, Deputy Prime Minister Jan Jambon, in the name of the government, asked the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) to carry out an independent inquiry regarding the risk in case of return to Sudan. The report was handed over to the government on 8 February 2018.