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

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.

At the height of the refugee “crisis” in October 2015, over 7,000 asylum seekers crossed the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece per day. This created problematic conditions for refugees in reception centers and overwhelmed Greece as a first country of entry to the EU. In this setting, the EU-Turkey Statement was concluded with the aim of managing migration across the Aegean Sea and curbing arrivals to the EU. Whilst the Statement was effective in reducing the number of arrivals, it has been met with a series of human rights concerns.

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.

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. 

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.

A the beginning of December 2017, the European Commission has published the common "Return Handbook". It provides Member States with common guidelines, best practices and recommendations to be used by Member States' competent authorities when carrying out return-related tasks. 

Vandaag heeft het Belgische Contactpunt van het Europees Migratienetwerk (EMN) een conferentie georganiseerd over de voornaamste ontwikkelingen op het vlak van asiel en migratie die zich hebben voorgedaan in 2017.

The Belgian government and the city of Mechelen host a global conference on cities and migration in order to identify actionable recommendations on cooperation for migration governance at local and national levels.

Op 26 oktober 2017 werd de algemene beleidsnota asiel en migratie van de Staatssecretaris voor Asiel en Migratie gepubliceerd. De beleidsnota brengt een overzicht van de belangrijkste verwezenlijkingen en beleidsprioriteiten op het vlak van asiel en migratie.

Het Belgisch Contactpunt van het EMN organiseerde op 05.10.2017 een bijeenkomst te Brussel over de illegale tewerkstelling van derdelanders. Deze conferentie bracht toonaangevende experten samen voor een constructieve en stimulerende dialoog over deze interessante problematiek.

The European Commission published a mid-term review of what has been achieved so far in delivering the European Agenda on Migration. It also sets out new initiatives from the Commission to address key areas, and identifies where further efforts are needed in the coming months.