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.

Eerstelijnswerkers krijgen in hun job soms te maken met verzoekers van internationale bescherming met een trauma, met conflicten, spanningen en zelfs persoonlijke veiligheidsrisico's. Bijgevolg worden ze blootgesteld aan een hoog risico op persoonlijke stress en burn-outs, depressie, trauma en andere mentale gezondheidsproblemen. Deze conferentie wil nationale en Europese stakeholders samenbrengen om ervaringen, uitdagingen en praktische oplossingen te bespreken.

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.

Myria has published the fourth thematic section of its 2024 annual report. In this section, entitled « Economic migration, free movement and students » Myria notes that more third-country nationals were posted to Belgium in 2023 than in 2022. Posted workers from third countries are more vulnerable to exploitation than EU-based posted workers. Therefore, they urgently need increased legal protection, according to Myria.

As the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons celebrates its 70th anniversary on 28 September 2024, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates the number of stateless people worldwide at more than 4 million by the end of 2023.

After nearly two years of closure, Fedasil’s Info Point reopened on 27 September 2023, at its new location in rue Héger-Bordet, 3. The Info Point offers information and counseling for applicants for international protection living outside the reception network, but also migrants in transit and persons without a residence permit.

According to a new report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA), EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) projects have reported the delivery of many of the planned outputs and partially achieved their objectives. Despite this, the financial support from the EUTF support is still insufficiently focused on the agreed priorities. Furthermore, there are challenges in relation to reporting, ensuring the sustainability of results and safeguarding human rights.

Before 20 September 2024, Member States can apply for funding for projects focused on combating organised crime under the Internal Security Fund and for projects to reinforce border checks or border surveillance under the Border Management and Visa Instrument. EUR 17 million are intended for this purpose.

In a statement from 19 September 2024, the Council of Europe notes that Belgium has taken steps to address the wider reception crisis (such as creating 3.500 additional reception places and accelerating the examination of certain asylum applications to free up existing reception places), but these measures are insufficient.

Op 19 september 2024 presenteerde EMN België de bevindingen voor van zijn nationale bijdrage aan de komende EMN Studie over de Illegale tewerkstelling van onderdanen van derde landen (2017-2022). Daarbij werd de vergelijking gemaakt met de nationale bijdragen van EMN Oostenrijk en EMN Italië.

On 17 September 2023, the President-elect of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, unveiled the names of Commissioners-designate for 2024-2029. The current Austrian Finance Minister, Magnus Brunner will be in charge of Internal Affairs and Migration, if he successfully passes the test of European Parliament hearings.  

Dit evenement zal de nieuwe EMN - Rode Kruis Inform over praktijken en uitdagingen bij de behandeling van slachtoffers van foltering en mishandeling in de context van internationale en tijdelijke bescherming lanceren. Het evenement zal de belangrijkste bevindingen van de inform belichten, ingaan op procedures in EMN landenleden en waarnemende landen, en inzichten putten uit de aanpak van het Rode Kruis en de ervaring van nationale Rode Kruis afdelingen in verschillende EU-lidstaten.

Tijdens een webinar op 17 september 2024 belichtten EMN-lidstaten en leden met waarnemerstatus, en het Rode Kruis belangrijke praktijken en uitdagingen bij het identificeren van slachtoffers van foltering in het kader van internationale en tijdelijke bescherming. Ook persoonlijke ervaringen van migranten die foltering overleefd hebben, werden belicht, net als manieren om hun kwetsbaarheid beter aan te pakken.

Checks are being temporarily reintroduced at Germany's borders with Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Denmark. They will run from 16 September 2024 until 15 March 2025 to, among other things, reduce irregular migration and combat people smuggling. 

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.

Eurostat published data on first residence permits, highlighting that 3.741.015 first residence permits were issued in the EU to non-EU citizens in 2023, a 4.7% increase compared with 2022. Belgium issued 74.366 first residence permits to non-EU nationals in 2023, an 8,5% increase compared with 2022.

Civil society organisations are invited to apply before 12 September 2024 to contribute to the 9th European Migration Forum (EMF) under the theme "Enhancing the role of civil society in implementing the Pact on Migration and Asylum".

Myria has published the third thematic section of its 2024 annual report. In this section entitled "Right to family life", Myria calls for more accurate, regular and transparent information regarding the family reunification procedure at its various stages, both at the level of diplomatic posts and external service providers, ensuring the accessibility – including linguistic – of this information for the target audience.

In a press release from 9 September 2024, the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor reacted to the Hungarian government’s recent threats to send migrants to Brussels. She advocated for a joint, coordinated policy, in which respect for European values and international obligations are central. 

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.