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The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the substantial measures taken by EU and OECD countries to prevent the spread of the virus are having direct and indirect impacts on international students coming to those countries. While the long-term consequences are difficult to predict, the immediate impacts are already visible, for example, the processing of new applications or renewing of residence permits has in many cases been hindered or suspended, with consequences for international students already present in the host country. In addition, the abrupt downturn in economic activity has had a significant impact across many sectors, with international students facing the loss of their part time jobs or reduced or lost incomes, which could have an impact on their ability to continue their studies or find a job or start a business following their graduation.

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In its Review 2019, Fedasil presents the most important events and figures on reception, voluntary return and resettlement of the past year. The overview shows an increase in the number of people entitled to reception and for whom more than 5000 temporary places were opened in 2019.
Main theme: Reception
Keywords: asiel

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Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, personal interviews of applicants for international protection at the CGRS were stopped in March. They were started again in June. To improve the safety of staff and applicants, a video with practical instructions was created.
Main theme: International Protection
Keywords: video

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On 25 June 2020, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) will launch the 2020 edition of its annual flagship EASO Asylum Report. Due to the COVID-19 situation, this year EASO will be holding an online event to present and discuss the findings of the report, as well as developing asylum trends in the EU. 

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The event will serve to launch the 2019 edition of the EMN Annual Report on Migration and Asylum. It also seeks to provide the latest information on Member States responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The EMN has recently conducted a study on "Comparative overview of national protection statuses”. A short video was created to highlight some of the key findings of this study.
Main theme: Regularization
Keywords: video

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Today EMN Belgium has launched a Twitter account to better disseminate EMN outputs. 
Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: médias sociaux

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Border closures and quarantine rules to prevent the spreading of Covid-19 risk having a negative impact on seasonal work. To address labour shortages in the agricultural and horticultural sectors, the federal and regional governments decided to adopt a series of measures in the spring of 2020.
Main theme: Economic migration
Keywords: seasonal labour

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In 2020 EMN Belgium will continue to contribute to multiple EMN outputs on migration and asylum policy in the EU Member States. This way EMN Belgium contributes to an evidence-based migration and asylum policy in the EU and Belgium.
Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: research

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Each year, the Odysseus Network organizes a Summer School in EU immigration and asylum law and policy. The courses tackle the most recent legislative, jurisprudential and political developments in the field at EU level.
Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: Odysseus netwerk

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Voluntary returns to the countries of origin are decreasing for the third consecutive year.
Main theme: Return & Readmission
Keywords: voluntary return

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The Academy of European Law organises its Annual Conference on European Immigration Law.The aim of the conference is to provide legal practitioners with an update on recent developments in the EU legal migration system and the mechanisms put in place to tackle labour and skills shortages and to reinforce the attractiveness of the EU for key workers.  
Main theme: Migration
Keywords: ERA

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On 10 December 2019, EMN Belgium organized its annual asylum and migration policy event in which recent national and EU developments in the field of international protection, legal migration and integration, and irregular migration and return were discussed. 

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The conference 'From Tampere 20 to Tampere 2.0: Towards a new programme (2020-2024) for EU migration and asylum policies 20 years after the Tampere conclusions?' was held in Helsinki on the 24th and the 25th of October.

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On 22 October 2019, the Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities (VVSG) published the results of the survey conducted in the spring of 2019. The results show that especially the search for housing for beneficiaries of international protection is very problematic. The regulations state that, in principle, they must leave the Local Reception Initiative (LOI) within two months. As in the VVSG survey of 2017, half of the respondents do not consider this period to be feasible. For almost 1 in 5, finding housing within this timeframe very exceptionally the case, and only thanks to the possibility to extend the stay in the LOI twice by 1 month.  
Main theme: Integration
Keywords: huisvesting, LOI's, discriminatie

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On 8 October 2019, Fedasil launched the new information platform www.fedasilinfo.be. The mobile website provides applicants for international protection (asylum seekers) in Belgium with reliable information in 12 languages, 8 of which include an audio version.

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The Annual National Conference of the EMN Portugal on the theme “Migration, Asylum and Statistics”, is scheduled to be held on the 18th of September in Lisbon.  
Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: Statistics

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The Annual National Conference of the EMN Luxembourg on “Attracting start-up founders and innovative entrepreneurs from third countries” will be held on the 1st October in Esch-sur-Alzette.
Main theme: Economic migration
Keywords: entrepreneurs

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On the occasion of the World Refugee Day, which is organized every year on 20th June by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Eurostat published an infographic on annual asylum data for 2018 . Eurostat also published its Asylum quarterly report. In the first quarter of 2019, the number of first-time asylum applicants slightly increased : 4% more compared to the 4th quarter of 2018.
Main theme: Data & Statistics, Asylum

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On 24 June 2019 (9:00 - 10:45), EASO will launch its Annual Report on the Situation of Asylum in the EU in Brussels.   
Main theme: Asylum
Keywords: EASO

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Today the English translation of the latest report on Human Trafficking and Smuggling from Myria was published. The 2018 report focuses on underage victims of trafficking and smuggling of human beings.

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On May 27, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, European Commission and European Migration Network organise the International Conference “A New European Agenda on Migration?”. During this event, experts will share their views on the achievements, challenges and perspectives of integration and migration policies in Europe.

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The Federal Public Service Interior has made a short video about foreign unaccompanied minors seeking international protection in Belgium.
Main theme: Vulnerable groups
Keywords: unaccompanied minors

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Each year, the Odysseus Network organizes a Summer School in EU immigration and asylum law and policy. The courses tackle the most recent legislative, jurisprudential and political developments in the field at EU level.  
Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: immigration law

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Myria, the Belgian Federal Migration Centre, is recruiting a policy officer to work for the Belgian Contact Point of the European Migration Network (EMN).
Main theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: job vacancy