The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) has released its annual analysis of asylum trends in 2024. The EU+ received approximately 1.014 million asylum applications, reflecting an 11% decrease compared to 2023. This decrease concentrated in the second half of the year as the application trend deviated from the typical seasonal pattern.

In 2023, 1.050.100 people obtained citizenship of the EU country of their usual residence, an increase of 6.1% compared with 2022. This was mainly the result of increases in absolute terms in Spain (58.600 more residents were granted Spanish citizenship than in 2022), followed by Germany (33.200 more) and Belgium (6.700 more)

In a coordinated effort to combat human trafficking, Europol hosted an international operational action from 25 to 28 February 2025, bringing together experts in analysis, OSINT (Open Source Intelligence), and investigations from 12 countries, including Belgium. The operation focused on detecting and disrupting human trafficking networks operating online, particularly those exploiting Ukrainian nationals.

In 2024, 1.261 detainees were forcibly returned from Belgian prisons, down from 1.428 in 2023 and 1.511 in 2022, according to the Immigration Office. The most represented nationalities among those returned were Albanians, Moroccans, and Algerians. This decline comes amid ongoing challenges linked to prison overcrowding and changes in early-release policies.

The European Commission has adopted its 2025 work programme, with key initiatives including the first five-year European Migration and Asylum Strategy. This strategy will provide a strategic framework for continued work under the Pact on Migration and Asylum, building on the national migration and asylum strategies of EU Member States.

Een recent rapport van het Asielagentschap van de Europese Unie (EUAA), dat jurisprudentie van 2020-2024 analyseert, benadrukt dat beslissingen van EU- en nationale rechtbanken nationale praktijken sturen naar een meer gendergevoelige benadering van internationale bescherming.

About sixty Eritrean refugees gathered in front of the Town Hall in Ghent to draw the authorities' attention to the impact of the housing crisis on their situation and integration prospects. The authorities expressed their intention to find solutions but called on Minister of Asylum and Migration Anneleen Van Bossuyt to address this issue together. They also stated that they would consider a European response to this widespread problem. 

Negen mensenrechtenorganisaties, waaronder 11.11.11 België, hebben het European Pushback Report 2024 gepubliceerd. Het rapport benadrukt dat illegale pushbacks een hardnekkige praktijk zijn aan de grenzen van Europa en roept op tot de oprichting van onafhankelijke controlemechanismen om naleving van mensenrechtennormen te waarborgen en verdere schendingen te voorkomen.

The Benelux countries and Suriname have agreed to facilitate the return of individuals in irregular situations from the Benelux or Suriname to their country of origin. Additionally, they have decided to grant visa-free travel for diplomats and government officials between the Benelux countries and Suriname.

According to Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, 4.276 persons obtained Belgian nationality in November 2024. The main countries of origin of people who acquired Belgian nationality in November are Morocco, Syria, Romania, Afghanistan and Turkey.

Statbel has published demographic projections for 2024-2070 and concluded that Belgium’s population will reach 12.9 million by 2070. International migration will be the main driver of growth after 2038, as the natural balance turns negative by the end of the 2030s.

Fedasil revealed that Belgium resettled 487 people in 2024, exceeding the 287 resettled in 2023. The refugees resettled in 2024 mainly came from countries such as Syria, Congo, Eritrea and Sudan.

In het nieuwe akkoord willen de federale coalitiepartners de instroom van migranten beheersen en streven naar gecontroleerde migratie. Ze benadrukken ook het belang van de integratie van nieuwkomers, onder andere via een bindende nieuwkomersverklaring, en stellen eisen aan degenen die permanent in België willen verblijven.

In a position paper published on 6 February 2024, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) sets out the conditions that would have to be met for return hubs to respect fundamental rights and comply with EU law. This includes independent monitoring to reduce the risks of fundamental rights violations.

On 5 February 2025, the Belgian Contact Point to the European Migration Network (EMN) took part in a roundtable in the Senate, focusing on the abandonment of sexual mutilation. The Group for the Abolition of Sexual Mutilation (GAMS) inter alia stressed that it has limited visibility on individuals arriving in Belgium through family reunification, making it more difficult to raise awareness and monitor cases of female genital mutilation in the country.

In a recent judgment, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) held that national legislation may oblige beneficiaries of international protection to pass a civic integration examination. However the fact of having failed such an examination cannot be systematically penalised by a fine.

Op 3 februari 2025 legde de nieuwe federale regering van België de eed af voor koning Filip. Anneleen Van Bossuyt van de Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA) is benoemd tot Minister van Asiel en Migratie, Maatschappelijke Integratie en Stedenbeleid in de zogenaamde “Arizona-coalitie”.

In 2024, Belgium saw a notable increase in the number of individuals choosing voluntary return to their country of origin. According to Fedasil’s press release from 3 February 2024, the total number of individuals opting for voluntary return rose by 11% compared to the previous year.

The European Commission has developed a new interactive tool to map labour migration pathways across the 27 EU Member States. It helps to visualise the 290 pathways that were active at the time of the research and updated to February 2024.

According to figures released by the Immigration Office, 20.724 decisions resulted in the granting of visas for family reunification in Belgium in 2024, compared to 18.738 in 2023 and 15.901 the year before. The increase concerns several categories, in particular family reunification with a refugee or beneficiary of subsidiary protection.

In a press release published on 27 January 2025, the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration announced that Belgian authorities could organise the forced return of Afghans to Istanbul and that partners on the ground could then take them to Afghanistan. This collaboration and the budgets for it still need to be finalised by a new government.

According to a report commissioned by the governor of West Flanders, a total of 632 transmigrants were caught in the province in 2024, while in 2023 there were fewer than 400. The province's share of interceptions also went up. West Flanders accounted for about 70% of all transit migrants intercepted in Belgium in 2024, compared to around 50% in previous years.

On 23 January 2023, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs participated in the European Parliament plenary session to discuss EU funding of physical border protection structures such as walls, fences or other barriers at the external border. According to him, the Commission will take border management needs into account “in a holistic manner”, whilst always ensuring proportionate measures and respect for fundamental rights.

The European Commission published its fifth report on the progress made in the EU in combatting Trafficking in Human Beings. The report outlines, inter alia, that in 2021-2022, the majority of victims were non-EU citizens (54%). This demonstrates a shift compared to 2019-2020, when the majority of registered victims were EU citizens (55%).

On 16 January 2025, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) released asylum statistics for the whole year 2024. According to the figures, 39.615 persons, mainly from Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Turkey, applied for international protection in Belgium. The Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration stressed that a large number of these applicants were already registered in another Member State.