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On the proposal of the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor, the Council of Ministers approved today a draft royal decree relating to the granting of material assistance to applicants for international protection benefiting from professional income.
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Main theme: Reception
Keywords: material assistance, professional income, reception cost
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This conference organised by the French Contact Point of the EMN will focus on resettlement programmes, legal complementary pathways and the integration of resettled refugees.
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Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: resettlement, humanitarian admission
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Organised under the framework of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, this conference will bring together policymakers, practitioners, and representatives of industries and worker unions, and allow for meaningful discussions on the current state of labour migration, trends, challenges, and possible solutions.
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Main theme: Economic migration
Keywords: labour migration
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During the Justice and Home Affairs Council today, Ministers inter alia supported the need to strengthen the external dimension of EU migration policy in order to face the migratory challenges the EU shares with other continents and countries.
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Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: EU Migration Policy, New Pact on Migration and Asylum, crisis regulation, temporary protection
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This capacity-building workshop will bring together representatives of international organisations, EU agencies, Member States, and academia to provide opportunities for exchanges and discussions on the current state of forecasting models in migration, and to present any ongoing projects or initiatives related to the use of technologies in migration and asylum governance.
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Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: forecasting, migration governance, technologies
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As part of an investigation into acts of trafficking in human beings, 30 brothels in the northern district of Brussels have been placed under judicial seal. 25 people were subject to judicial arrest and 23 others were administratively deprived of their liberty.
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Main theme: Smuggling & Trafficking
Keywords: sexual exploitation, human trafficking
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A Belgian expert participated in the conference of the Austrian Contact Point to the European Migration Network (EMN) focusing on opportunities and challenges in the management of EU's external borders. Participants inter alia identified the weaponization of migration as a major challenge concerning the protection of EU's external borders.
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On the occasion of the European Anti Trafficking Day (on 18 October), PAG-ASA organizes the second Human trafficking awareness week in Brussels! A series of events from 16 to 20 October will give you the opportunity to learn about the issue, better understand its impact on victims and gain insight into the Belgian protection procedure.
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Main theme: Smuggling & Trafficking
Keywords: human trafficking, awareness week
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On the proposal of the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor, the Council of Ministers agreed today that people who live outside the reception network receive information and support from Fedasil. The Council of Ministers approved an action plan and funding for this purpose.
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Main theme: Reception
Keywords: Fedasil, socio-legal support
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For 10 years now, the Duo for a Job association has aimed inter alia to help eliminate inequalities in access to the labour market for young people with a migrant background. Results are conclusive as seven out of ten young people successfully find a stable job, an internship or training that leads them to the job they initially wanted.
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Main theme: Integration
Keywords: labour market access, mentoring
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In its judgment in Case C-143/22 | ADDE and Others, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled today that the Return Directive applies to any third-country national who has entered the territory of a Member State without fulfilling the conditions of entry, stay or residence. That also applies when the person concerned has entered that territory even before crossing a border crossing point where such checks are carried out.
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Main theme: Return & Readmission
Keywords: return directive, internal border control
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The European Commission is proposing today to further extend the temporary protection for people fleeing Russia's aggression against Ukraine from 4 March 2024 to 3 March 2025. This Commission proposal will now have to be adopted by the Council.
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Main theme: Temporary protection
Keywords: Temporary Protection Directive, Ukraine
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The Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor is already making it clear that Belgium will not respond positively to the request for relocation of migrants who have arrived in Lampedusa. This position is mainly explained by the shortage of reception places in Belgium.
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Main theme: Asylum
Keywords: relocation
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The Belgian Contact Point to the European Migration Network is looking for an intern to support the team in its mission, including in the framework of the 2024 Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU. If you want to expand your knowledge on asylum and migration topics as well as your network in this field, this opportunity may be for you!
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Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: internship
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The Ombudsman is asking whether the Commission conducted a human rights impact assessment before signing the agreement, if periodic reviews will be conducted during implementation, and if there are criteria for suspending funding in case of human rights violations.
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Main theme: External Dimension
Keywords: fundamental rights, Tunisia, irregular migration
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Frontex revealed today that the number of detections of irregular border crossings at EU’s external borders rose by one fifth (+18%) in the first eight months of 2023 to over 232 350 and that this increase was primarily driven by the number of arrivals through the Central Mediterranean, which remains the main migratory route into the EU.
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Main theme: Borders & Visa
Keywords: irregular border crossing, external border, migratory route
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The organisation reports a huge increase in the number of vulnerable young asylum seekers who disappear in Belgium. The number of disappearances could double this year, compared to 2022 which had 136 cases.
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Main theme: Vulnerable groups
Keywords: unaccompanied minors, disappearance
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In her 2023 State of the Union Address, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, focused inter alia on migration issues. She underlined that an agreement on the New Pact on Migration and Asylum has never been so close.
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Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: New Pact on Migration and Asylum, human smuggling, human trafficking, temporary protection
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Today, the Council of State ruled that the use of the extreme emergency procedure was justified and that the decision not to offer shelter to single male asylum seekers violates the right to reception that asylum seekers have by law.
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Main theme: Reception
Keywords: reception law, reception directive, right to reception
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The first residents have arrived today in the reception center in Alveringem (West Flanders). These are Syrian families who were resettled from Lebanon.
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Main theme: Reception
Keywords: reception centre, resettlement, resettled refugee
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Today, the European Migration Network (EMN) Belgium was invited to present the results of an upcoming publication to members of the Flemish Agency for Internal Affairs as well as to take part in a coordination meeting between the four integration contact points in Belgium (for Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels, and the German-speaking community).
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Main theme: Integration
Keywords: integration contact point, integration monitoring
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In its judgment in Case T-600/21 | WS and Others v Frontex, the General Court dismissed today the action of a number of Syrian refugees who had brought a claim for compensation before the General Court of the European Union. The applicants claimed that Frontex engaged in improper conduct with regard to them.
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Main theme: Return & Readmission
Keywords: Frontex, return operation, fundamental right
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The European Migration Network (EMN) Belgium was at the European Parliament today for a presentation on “The Power of Labour Mobility Pilot Projects to Support the EU Legal Migration Reform”, organised by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD).
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Main theme: Economic migration
Keywords: labour mobility, pilot project, Migration Partnership Facility
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The European Union Agency for Asylum just released the latest asylum trends for the period January - June 2023. During the first half of 2023, applications for asylum rose to 519.000, a 28 % increase compared to the first half of 2022. As a result of the increase, many EU+ countries are under pressure with processing applications and protecting those in need.
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Main theme: Data & Statistics
Keywords: asylum applications, asylum decisions, asylum figures
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Flanders has published a new list of medium-skilled shortage occupations open to migration which enters into force today. The new list has been adapted to the current economic reality and labor market situation - it now contains 29 positions.