As of 9 December 2024, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons will temporarily suspend processing cases of applicants originating from Syria. Planned personal interviews will be cancelled and assessments will be temporarily put on hold.

De nationale conferentie van EMN Frankrijk richt zich op de Inform die gezamenlijk is gepubliceerd door het EMN en de OESO. Dit rapport biedt een overzicht van burgerschapstrainingen en -programma’s voor onderdanen van derde landen in EMN-leden en waarnemende landen, evenals in niet-EU OESO-landen. Daarnaast worden de onderwijsbenaderingen, systemen en examens besproken die worden gebruikt om kennis over burgerschapsprincipes en waarden over te brengen en te beoordelen.

The Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration has announced that she would use all possible means to reduce the number of applications from persons who already have protection in another EU Member State. She intends to oppose the Council for Aliens Law Litigation's rulings leading to the admissibility of these applications and the recognition of a protected status.

De nationale conferentie van EMN Finland voor 2024 onderzoekt de stand van zaken en de toekomstperspectieven van de situatie van Oekraïners in Finland en in EU-landen. De conferentie richt zich op de uitdagingen van integratie in een situatie waarin personen die tijdelijke bescherming genieten zich tussen twee landen bevinden. De conferentie probeert deze personen te ondersteunen in het spanningsveld tussen integratie en terugkeer.

Op 7 november 2024 kwam de 'High-Level Committee on Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission' voor het eerst bijeen. Het comité zal de Europese Commissie ondersteunen bij het opstellen van het tweejaarlijkse EU-plan, waarin het aantal vluchtelingen wordt vastgesteld dat in de EU zal worden toegelaten, evenals de landen en regio’s vanwaar hervestiging en toelating op humanitaire gronden moeten plaatsvinden.

This conference aims to present the first results of a Fedasil-funded mentoring-to-work project for highly skilled asylum seekers. It will discuss the challenges and opportunities of using mentoring as a pre-integration tool for asylum seekers. It will also explore the added value of mentoring for those who receive a positive decision and the challenges that arise from working with status holders.

Nicole de Moor said that applications relating to 859 persons have already been processed in accelerated procedure since February 2024. In 96 % of cases, applicants were not granted protection status. Ms de Moor wants to focus more on prevention to prevent people who do not need protection from applying for international protection in Belgium.

As of 24 October 2024, the centre for registering applications for international protection is located at rue Belliard 68 in 1000 Brussels. Applications can still be registered in the Pacheco building until Wednesday, 23 October 2024.

In a recent judgement in Case C‑134/23, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) clarified that Article 38 of Directive 2013/32/EU does not preclude legislation of a Member State designating a third country as generally safe for certain categories of applicants for international protection, even if that third country has suspended, in general terms and without any prospect of a contrary development, the admission or readmission of those applicants to its territory.

In a recent judgement, the Court of Justice of the European Union concluded that some of the discriminatory measures against women in Afghanistan, namely forced marriage and the lack of protection against gender-based violence and domestic violence, must be classified alone as "acts of persecution" and that other measures, taken as a whole, given their cumulative effect and the fact that they are applied deliberately and systematically, constitute such acts.

The Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGVS) announced on 2 October 2024 that the notification of decisions granting or refusing subsidiary protection status to applicants from Lebanon is suspended until the CGRS has sufficient objective information to assess the security situation in Lebanon.

On 1 October 2024, Nicole de Moor stated that proportionally speaking, more Palestinian applicants for international protection come to Belgium than to other European Member States. She also confirmed that the protection rate for Palestinian applicants had increased in recent years.

The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) released the latest asylum trends for the first half of 2024. By June 2024, EU countries had received 513.000 applications for international protection. While the figure remained stable compared to the first six months of 2023, some changes occurred at the national level.

Due to the sharp rise in applications for the equivalence of foreign diplomas in Flanders and the time- and labour-intensive investigations involved, waiting times can reach seven months. This impacts the integration of migrants into the labour market.  

On 5 September 2024, the UN Refugee Agency was awarded the "Fair Play for Peace Award" for its ongoing work to improve the lives of refugees, displaced and stateless persons through sport, in particular following the launch of the Agency's "More than a Game" sport strategy which promotes sport as a powerful vehicle for peace, inclusion and social cohesion.

Cindy Ngamba, a 25-year-old Cameroonian refugee living in the United Kingdom, won the bronze medal in the boxing discipline at the Paris Olympics. She is the first athlete in any sport to secure a medal while representing the refugee team.

This election year will be the fourth time that non-Belgians who reside in Belgium can vote in municipal elections. Yet participation remains low, as shown by the figures released by the FPS Interior ahead of the registration deadline, on 31 July 2024.