Voluntary returns to the countries of origin are decreasing. Among others, this is the result of the lower number of asylum applications during the past years.

Op 12 december 2018 organiseerde het Belgisch Contactpunt van het Europees Migratienetwerk (EMN) zijn jaarlijks beleidsevenement rond asiel en migratie. Recente nationale en Europese ontwikkelingen op het vlak van internationale bescherming, legale migratie en integratie kwamen aan bod, alsook de recente evoluties aangaande irreguliere migratie, mensenhandel en terugkeer.

This conference seeks to shed light on the interesting topic of returning third-country nationals who have entered or stayed irregularly in the EU, as well as on their subsequent reintegration.

On 10 September, the Belgian Minister of Security and the Interior and the State Secretary for Asylum Policy and Migration presented a 9-point action plan on the fight against irregular transit migration.

In his State of the Union, President Jean-Claude Juncker presented proposals to ensure full EU solidarity on migration and better protection of Europe's external borders. The Commission is proposing to reinforce the European Border and Coast Guard and the EU's Agency for Asylum and is proposing a targeted review of the Return Directive.

As of 11 August, irregularly staying families with minor children can be detained with a view to removal in family housing on the grounds of the closed detention centre 127bis.

Today, the State Secretary for Asylum Policy and Migration and his Tunisian counterpart signed an agreement which focuses on cooperation regarding migration and return.

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. 

Op 31 mei en 1 juni gaat de Jaarlijkse EMN Conferentie door. Dit jaar zal de conferentie gaan over uitdagingen en succes-factoren in het managen van migratiestromen. Dit wordt georganiseerd door het Bulgaarse Contactpunt in het kader van het huidige Bulgaarse Voorzitterschap van de Europese Raad.

In 2018 viert het Europees Migratienetwerk (EMN) zijn tiende verjaardag. Ter gelegenheid hiervan houdt EMN op 15 mei een conferentie in Brussel. 

In Februari, Fedasil, het federaal agentschap voor de opvang van asielzoekers heeft een samenwerkingsakkord met Enabel (www.enabel.be), het Belgisch ontwikkelingsagentschap (voorheen de Belgische technische Coöperatie) getekend.

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. 

Op 9 november 2017 organiseerden het EMN en de OESO een gezamenlijke conferentie die bestond uit twee onderdelen: uitdagingen en mogelijkheden inzake gezinshereniging, en irreguliere tewerkstelling van derdelanders in de EU.

In December of this year, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons was asked by the Belgian government to carry out an independent enquiry on the fate of the Sudanese nationals who recently returned to their country of origin.