The European Commission is today recommending that Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway phase out the temporary controls currently in place at some of their internal Schengen borders over the next six months.

Today, two new laws have entered into force. They focus on the procedure to end the residence rights and organized the removal of foreign nationals legally residing in Belgium for reasons of public order or national security.

Today, the European Migration Network (EMN) launched its Annual Report on Migration and Asylum 2016 during a half day event in Brussels. 

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, published today a press release with 2015 data on the acquisition of citizenship in the EU. The main conclusions are that EU Member States granted citizenship to fewer persons in 2015, and Moroccans, Albanians and Turks remain the main recipients.

Following up on the Joint Communication on the Central Mediterranean Route and the Malta Declaration, the EU Trust Fund for Africa upon proposal from the European Commission, adopted today a €90 million programme to step up the protection of migrants and reinforce migration management in Libya.

The Commission is today setting out actions to reinforce the protection of all migration children at all stages of the process and to ensure a closer link between the asylum and child protection services.

Today, the Commission adopted its eleventh progress report on the EU's emergency relocation and resettlement schemes, assessing actions taken since 2 March 2017.

Today, a Royal Decree was published in the Official Gazette which details the type of residence permit the fee can apply to, and what the maximum amount of said fee is.

On 18 March 2017, a regulation amending the Schengen borders code was published in the EU Official Journal. The amendment aims to reinforce checks against relevant databases at the external borders.

Eurostat published a news release on the number of asylum applications in 2016 and published an article on asylum applications and decisions for 2016 on its website.

In its judgement delivered today, the Court of Justice has ruled that Member States are not required – under EU law – to grant a humanitarian visa to persons who wish to enter their territory with a view to applying for asylum. However, they are free to do so on the basis of their national law.  

Today the European Commission presented new measures in the context of the review of the EU return policy which was announced in the Malta Declaration from 3 February 2017.

The Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons has published a new guide that provides information to unaccompanied minors applying for asylum in Belgium, as well as their guardians.

Today, the Commission adopted its ninth progress report on the EU's emergency relocation and resettlement schemes, assessing actions taken since 8 December 2016.

On 3 February 2017, the 28 Heads of States discussed the external dimension of migration at the informal summit in Malta. They adopted the Malta Declaration.

Foreign nationals might have to pay a fee of maximum 50 euro in certain municipalities when they renew, extend or replace a temporary residence permit at the level of the municipalities. Modifications by the Law of 18 December 2016, published today in the Belgian Official Gazette, made it possible for municipalities to collect this fee.

On 1 February 2017, Belgium and Cameroon signed a Memorandum of Understanding which focuses on migration and return.

Today the Council of Ministers decided that the mandatory fee migrants have to pay when applying for certain residence permits will increase.

Today a new law enters (partly) into force inserting a general residence condition into the Immigration Act. The Immigration Office can now put an end to a residence permit if the person cannot put forward provable integration efforts.

The Passenger Name Record (PNR) law has been adopted in Parliament in December 2016. It was published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 25 January 2017. On the basis of this law, carriers will be obliged to send data on their passengers travelling from, to, or across Belgium to a central database.

Ahead of the meeting of Heads of State or Government in Malta on 3 February 2017, the Commission and the High Representative/Vice-President have set out their contribution to the discussion on how to better manage migration and save lives along the Central Mediterranean route.

Today, the Commission is taking stock of the progress achieved and the work still needed in making the new European Border and Coast Guard Agency fully operational.

According to the Missing Migrants Project, an estimate of 7495 men, women and children migrants or refugees died or were reported missing across five continents in 2016. That is almost 20 victims per day and the number may not include them all.

In 2016, there was a sharp drop in the number of asylum applications in Belgium, and the number of decisions taken by the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons reached an all-time high.