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On the proposal of the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, the Council of Ministers agreed today to the conclusion of a rental contract for land in Lodelinsart (Charleroi). Fedasil will make the site available to the Belgian Red Cross to place containers in order to increase the reception capacity for applicants for international protection.
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Main theme: Reception
Keywords: reception capacity, reception centre, container
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Today, EU Member States’ representatives meeting in the Coreper approved key laws which will reform the EU’s asylum and migration system. The EU laws of the Pact touch upon all stages of asylum and migration management.
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Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: New Pact on Migration and Asylum
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The Belgian presidency of the Council of the EU and European Parliament negotiators today reached a provisional deal on amending the Schengen Borders Code. The update in particular clears up rules related to the reintroduction of border controls and offers solutions to situations where migrants are instrumentalised.
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Main theme: Borders & Visa
Keywords: Schengen, Schengen borders code, migration instrumentalization, border control
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As the Year of Skills nears its end, this conference will take stock of its achievements and assess future priorities. Panellists will discuss labour migration and skills-based mobility initiatives, the EU’s attractiveness in the global competition for talent, and international partnerships for development and mobility.
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Main theme: Economic migration
Keywords: European Year of the Skills, European Skills Agenda
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The Department of Work and Social Economy is organizing an information session to explain the changes in regulations regarding the employment of foreign workers in Flanders. Such changes will enter into force on 1 March 2024.
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Main theme: Economic migration
Keywords: foreign workers, employment
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The Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) announced today that it would resume the processing of Sudanese cases from Darfur, Kordofan, Blue Nile and Khartoum as of 26 February 2024.
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Main theme: International Protection
Keywords: Sudan, application for international protection, individual need for protection
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In 2023, 287 refugees were resettled in Belgium, including 154 Congolese from Rwanda, 81 Syrians from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, and 26 Sudanese, 18 Ethiopians and 8 Eritreans from Egypt.
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Main theme: International Protection
Keywords: resettled refugee, resettlement, community sponsorship
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The Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration announced today that applications from nationalities that have very little chance of obtaining international protection, in particular Congolese, Moldovans and Georgians, will be processed in a fast-track procedure from 1 February.
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Main theme: International Protection
Keywords: accelerated procedure, fast-track procedure, application for international protection
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Today Eurostat launches an interactive visualisation tool that offers a comprehensive overview of data related to demography, the labour market, education, social inclusion, housing, health and active citizenship of the migrant population in the EU.
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Main theme: Data & Statistics
Keywords: inclusion, Immigrant integration
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In a judgement released today, the Court of Justice of the European Union held that an unaccompanied minor refugee, who reached majority during the procedure relating to the application for family reunification with his or her parents, has a right to such reunification.
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Today, the Parliament of the Brussels Capital Region adopted in plenary session an ordinance relating to economic migration. The objective is to modernize, make coherent and simplify the current texts, to better respond to labour shortages identified in the job market.
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Main theme: Economic migration
Keywords: labour market shortage, shortage occupation, Brussels, foreign workers
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A new reception centre that can accommodate a maximum of 135 applicants for international protection has opened in Ghent. This is the second reception centre managed by Fedasil in the city. Since 2020, the Agency has been organizing the reception of 250 people on a pontoon in the port of Ghent.
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Main theme: Reception
Keywords: reception centre, Ghent
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EU Home Affairs Ministers met today in Brussels during an informal meeting. Emphasis was placed on the need to finalize the legal texts of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum and to start the implementation process. Ministers also discussed the future of Ukrainian beneficiaries of temporary protection in Europe.
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Main theme: Cross-sectional, Asylum, Migration
Keywords: Belgian Presidency, Council of the European Union, Ukraine, temporary protection, New Pact on Migration and Asylum
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Recent Eurostat figures show that in 2022, 10.093 victims of human trafficking were registered in the European Union. There were 8.064 suspected traffickers and 2.097 convicted traffickers. The statistics also shed light on gender distribution among traffickers and victims, as well as exploitation patterns.
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Main theme: Smuggling & Trafficking
Keywords: human trafficking, victims of human trafficking, gender, sexual exploitation, forced labour, Eurostat
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Today the Belgian presidency of the Council and representatives of the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the revision of the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive from 2011. The updated rules were called to better respond to developments in the forms and means of trafficking in human beings and to combat this crime more effectively.
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During a visit to the prison in Beveren, the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration said that more illegally staying detainees are being sent back directly from prisons, through the work of the return counsellors in the detention facilities.
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Main theme: Return & Readmission
Keywords: return counselling, prison, detention, illegally staying person
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According to Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, 4.927 persons obtained Belgian nationality in October 2023. The main countries of origin of people who acquired Belgian nationality in October are Morocco, Syria, Romania, Afghanistan and Poland.
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Main theme: Citizenship & Nationality
Keywords: access to nationality, Belgian nationality
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In 2023, the Immigration Office registered a total of 35.507 applications for international protection. This is slightly less than in 2022 when a total of 36.871 applications for international protection had been registered in Belgium.
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Main theme: Data & Statistics
Keywords: asylum figures, application for international protection, asylum applications
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In a press release published today, the UN Refugee Agency called on Belgium and Hungary to use their 2024 European Union (EU) Presidencies as an opportunity to finalize the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum and to ensure its protection-sensitive implementation.
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Main theme: International Protection
Keywords: Belgian Presidency, Hungarian Presidency, Council of the European Union
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Today the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, in the presence of all relevant asylum and immigration services, presented the new migration code. This new code aims to clarify procedures, simplify the texts and better fight against abuse.
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Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: Migration Code, immigration law, reception law
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According to an announcement from the office of the Brussels Social Minister Alain Maron, 155 additional emergency places are opened today to accommodate homeless or poorly housed people in Brussels. The emergency shelter welcomes everyone, regardless of residence status.
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Main theme: Vulnerable groups
Keywords: homeless shelter, extreme cold plan, homelessness
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The International Organization for Migration (IOM) looks forward to cooperating with the Belgian and Hungarian Presidencies of the Council of the European Union and stands ready to offer its continued support and expertise. With a view to building this partnership, the IOM publishes some recommendations on migration and mobility for 2024.
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Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: Belgian Presidency, Hungarian Presidency, Council of the European Union, recommendation
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Researcher and author Pascal Debruyne will present his book which contains stories of parents and minors who struggle through the family reunification procedure and stories of care providers who try their best to support these families. Panel discussions will also take place with experts in this field.
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Main theme: Family reunification
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While in the past, Somali applicants from southern and central Somalia, with the exception of Mogadishu, were generally granted subsidiary protection status because of the security situation, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGVS) now concludes that no region in Somalia is characterized by an exceptional situation in which the degree of indiscriminate violence is so high that it reaches the "real risk" threshold leading per se to the granting of subsidiary protection.
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Main theme: International Protection
Keywords: Somalia
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For the next six months, Belgium will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, a position it hasn't held since 2010. The Belgian Presidency will be particularly important as it will steer the debates on the European Council’s Strategic Agenda and lead up to the European Parliament elections in June 2024.