The first 15 asylum seekers have arrived today at the new Fedasil reception centre in Grimbergen. The new reception centre, which will accommodate up to 100 people, is specifically intended for people with medical problems, as well as their families.

On the proposal of the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor, the Council of Ministers agreed today on the extension of support measures for the reception and support of asylum seekers in the Brussels-Capital Region. A total of 2000 places are now available for asylum seekers who cannot immediately get a place in the Fedasil reception network.

Myria has published the sixth thematic section of its 2023 annual report. This section entitled "International protection" reports that the refusal rate for asylum seekers from Afghanistan in 2022 is higher in Belgium (56%) than the average for EU countries (47%). In the event of return, some Afghan asylum seekers could risk degrading or even inhuman treatment (prohibited by Article 3 of the ECHR), given the current situation in Afghanistan.

Vandaag tijdens een conferentie stelde de Europese Commissie haar wetsvoorstel voor in de strijd tegen mensensmokkel. Daarnaast ijvert de Commissie voor een wereldwijde alliantie om mensensmokkel te bestrijden.

The European Commission is presenting today a set of good practices to help Member States implement in the most effective way the actions to which they have committed under the Dublin Roadmap. 

The Court of Justice of the European Union has released two judgements today, respectively in Case C‑374/22 and in Case C‑614/22, where specific provisions of Directive 2011/95/EU must be interpreted as not requiring the Member States to grant the parent of a child who has refugee status in a Member State the right to international protection in that Member State.

De multidisciplinaire woordenlijst van het Europees Migratienetwerk (EMN) heeft ongeveer 500 termen en concepten met betrekking tot asiel en migratie. Laten we ons vandaag concentreren op de term "tekort aan arbeidskrachten" om er zeker van te zijn dat we de term gemeenschappelijk begrijpen en gebruiken!

In a press release published today, Doctors of the World declared that it opposes a new article of the draft law presented by Nicole de Moor, providing for the possibility of carrying out medical examinations under constraint to facilitate the forced return of third-country nationals. Doctors of the World says this measure risks further complicating access to health care for these particularly vulnerable people.

Het Europees Migratienetwerk (EMN) hield een tweedaagse conferentie met de titel "Shaping the future of EU legal migration: waar zijn we en waar willen we naartoe?". Het evenement maakte deel uit van het huidige Spaanse voorzitterschap van de Raad van de EU, met de nadruk op legale migratiestrategieën om het benodigde talent en de vaardigheden uit het buitenland aan te trekken.

Through its campaign “So what, we continue the exploitation?”, the CIRÉ underlines that undocumented workers who informally fill the labour needs, are at risk of being exploited. It pleads to give them access to legal work, particularly through the single permit procedure.

The Commission is today presenting a Skills and Talent Mobility package to make the EU more attractive to talent from outside the EU and to facilitate mobility within it. Today's measures include a new EU Talent Pool to match employers in the EU with jobseekers in third countries, as well as measures to promote the recognition of qualifications and learner's mobility. 

The Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration discussed today with mayors and aldermen of the five major cities of Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Charleroi and Liège to find ways to reduce the administrative burden in the field of asylum and migration, to guide illegally staying third-country nationals towards return and to implement social initiatives promoting, among others, the employment of applicants for international protection.

Nicole de Moor presented today a draft law which aims, in accordance with the federal government agreement, to enshrine in law a proactive return policy. The draft law inter alia provides for the obligation to cooperate in the return procedure and for the intensive individual follow up of third-country nationals who have received an order to leave the territory.

Samusocial, CIRÉ, Médecins du Monde, Ilot and the Brussels Platform Armoede have launched the campaign "Without papers, without rights, without shelter" to demonstrate the reality of undocumented persons and to propose concrete recommendations to policymakers in this field.

The Flemish Bar Association obtained in court that the Immigration Office provide lawyers with a detailed organisation chart allowing them to enter directly into contact with the employees handling the cases they are defending.

The campaign aims to raise awareness among people in Guinea of the dangers of irregular migration, such as the risk of exploitation and dangerous crossings. People are also made aware of local employment opportunities and legal migration channels.

The World Health Organization has published its first-ever global research agenda on health, migration and displacement to guide research efforts to understand and address the health needs of migrants, refugees, and all forcibly displaced populations and shape responsive policies and practices worldwide. 

In een nieuwe stand van zaken die vandaag is gepubliceerd, geeft de Europese Commissie een overzicht van de voortgang van het nieuwe pact inzake migratie en asiel. De belangrijkste ontwikkelingen sinds de laatste stand van zaken van april 2023 worden belicht.

Na de terroristische aanslag van een afgewezen asielzoeker in irregulier verblijf in het centrum van Brussel op 16 oktober, pleiten verschillende beleidsmakers voor een betere opvolging van afgewezen asielzoekers en een strengere handhaving van bevelen om het grondgebied te verlaten.

The 2023 Innovation Awards were awarded at the IOM Global Chiefs of Missions Meeting (GCOMM) in Istanbul on 25 October 2023. In the category "Regular Pathways", Displaced Talent for Europe (DT4E), which facilitates skilled migration for displaced talent to respond to labour market shortages, was acknowledged as the changemaker.

The International Migration Outlook 2023, published today by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), highlights inter alia that permanent-type migration to OECD countries increased by 26% in 2022 compared with 2021. In Belgium and in many OECD countries, permanent-type migration was higher in 2022 than in any of the previous 15 years. 

Voor de Europese dag tegen mensenhandel lanceert de Europese Commissie een bewustmakingscampagne om burgers te informeren over de realiteit van deze misdaad. De Europese Commissie nodigt alle burgers uit om de bewustwording en de kennis over mensenhandel te vergroten door deel te nemen aan de "Stop mensenhandel. Doorbreek de onzichtbare keten" campagne.

Het Commissariaat-Generaal voor de Vluchtelingen en de Staatlozen (CGVS) heeft op 20 oktober 2023 aangekondigd dat de betekening van beslissingen tot toekenning of weigering van de subsidiaire beschermingsstatus aan verzoekers uit Gaza en Westbank is opgeschort tot wanneer het CGVS over voldoende objectieve informatie beschikt om de veiligheidssituatie in de Palestijnse gebieden accuraat te kunnen beoordelen.

Home Affairs Ministers met at the JHA Council in Brussels on 19 October. They discussed progress on the New Pact on Migration and Asylum and exchanged views on the EU’s approach to the external dimension of migration. They stressed that the EU should efficiently use all the tools at its disposal to develop a preventive model which would hinder irregular departures, as well as to foster the effectiveness of returns.