As the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons celebrates its 70th anniversary on 28 September 2024, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates the number of stateless people worldwide at more than 4 million by the end of 2023.
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Main Theme: Statelessness
Keywords: stateless persons, access to nationality
After nearly two years of closure, Fedasil’s Info Point reopened on 27 September 2023, at its new location in rue Héger-Bordet, 3. The Info Point offers information and counseling for applicants for international protection living outside the reception network, but also migrants in transit and persons without a residence permit.
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According to a new report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA), EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) projects have reported the delivery of many of the planned outputs and partially achieved their objectives. Despite this, the financial support from the EUTF support is still insufficiently focused on the agreed priorities. Furthermore, there are challenges in relation to reporting, ensuring the sustainability of results and safeguarding human rights.
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Main Theme: Irregular Migration
Keywords: EU Emergency Trust Fund, EU Trust Fund for Africa, audit
In a statement from 19 September 2024, the Council of Europe notes that Belgium has taken steps to address the wider reception crisis (such as creating 3.500 additional reception places and accelerating the examination of certain asylum applications to free up existing reception places), but these measures are insufficient.
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Main Theme: Reception
Keywords: reception crisis, accommodation, material assistance, judicial decision
On 19 September 2024, EMN Belgium presented the findings of its national contribution to the upcoming EMN Study on the Illegal Employment of Third-Country Nationals (2017-2022), in a comparative perspective with the national contributions from EMN Austria and EMN Italy.
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During a webinar on 17 September 2024, EMN Member and Observer countries and the Red Cross highlighted key practices and challenges in identifying victims of torture in the context of international and temporary protection. The experience of migrant torture survivors was further examined and ways to address their vulnerabilities were discussed.
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Main Theme: Vulnerable groups
Keywords: victim, torture, traumatism, applicant for international protection, credibility assessment, vulnerability, special needs
On 17 September 2023, the President-elect of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, unveiled the names of Commissioners-designate for 2024-2029. The current Austrian Finance Minister, Magnus Brunner will be in charge of Internal Affairs and Migration, if he successfully passes the test of European Parliament hearings.
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Main Theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: Commissioner on Migration and Home Affairs
Checks are being temporarily reintroduced at Germany's borders with Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Denmark. They will run from 16 September 2024 until 15 March 2025 to, among other things, reduce irregular migration and combat people smuggling.
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Main Theme: Borders & Visa
Keywords: border control, border check, Schengen, internal border control
The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) released the latest asylum trends for the first half of 2024. By June 2024, EU countries had received 513.000 applications for international protection. While the figure remained stable compared to the first six months of 2023, some changes occurred at the national level.
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Main Theme: International Protection
Keywords: application for international protection, asylum trend, asylum recognition rate
Eurostat published data on first residence permits, highlighting that 3.741.015 first residence permits were issued in the EU to non-EU citizens in 2023, a 4.7% increase compared with 2022. Belgium issued 74.366 first residence permits to non-EU nationals in 2023, an 8,5% increase compared with 2022.
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Main Theme: Data & Statistics
Keywords: first residence permit, employment, family reunification, international protection, education
Myria has published the third thematic section of its 2024 annual report. In this section entitled "Right to family life", Myria calls for more accurate, regular and transparent information regarding the family reunification procedure at its various stages, both at the level of diplomatic posts and external service providers, ensuring the accessibility – including linguistic – of this information for the target audience.
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Main Theme: Family reunification
Keywords: long-stay visa, first residence permit, application for family reunification
In a press release from 9 September 2024, the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor reacted to the Hungarian government’s recent threats to send migrants to Brussels. She advocated for a joint, coordinated policy, in which respect for European values and international obligations are central.
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Main Theme: Irregular Migration
Keywords: migration instrumentalization, European cooperation, mutual trust
Due to the sharp rise in applications for the equivalence of foreign diplomas in Flanders and the time- and labour-intensive investigations involved, waiting times can reach seven months. This impacts the integration of migrants into the labour market.
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Main Theme: Integration
Keywords: recognition of qualifications, diploma, equivalence
On 5 September 2024, the UN Refugee Agency was awarded the "Fair Play for Peace Award" for its ongoing work to improve the lives of refugees, displaced and stateless persons through sport, in particular following the launch of the Agency's "More than a Game" sport strategy which promotes sport as a powerful vehicle for peace, inclusion and social cohesion.
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Main Theme: Integration
Keywords: sport, empowerment, peace
Students, who were originally from Syria and Congo before becoming refugees in Egypt and Uganda, have the opportunity to start this new academic year in Belgian universities thanks to the legal and sustainable migration pathway offered by the university corridors.
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Main Theme: Study § Training
Keywords: university corridor, legal pathway, refugee
The Walloon administration announces that new regulations come into force on 1 September 2024 regarding salaried economic migration for foreign workers in Wallonia. The system remains largely unchanged in its principles, still falling within the broader framework of the Single Permit for work and residence authorization for foreign workers. However, a new decree of the Walloon Government organizes new features and modifications.
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Main Theme: Economic migration
Keywords: foreign workers, employer, single permit, EU blue card
The law of 10 March 2024 amending the law of 15 December 1980 on the right to family reunification comes into force on 1 September 2024. The changes have an impact among other things on the right to family reunification for parents of accompanied minors with international protection, the right to family reunification for stateless persons, the assessment of minorhood in the asylum procedure or residence procedure for stateless person, etc.
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Main Theme: Family reunification
Keywords: right to family reunification, application for family reunification
The law of 10 March 2024 which creates a residence status as a stateless person in Belgium, comes into force on 1 September 2024. Applications for admission to stay on the grounds of statelessness must now be submitted directly to the Immigration Office by registered mail.
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Main Theme: Statelessness
Keywords: application for statelessness, admission to stay, stateless persons
The current weather conditions increase the risk that human smugglers will send groups of transmigrants, including small children, out to sea in overcrowded rubber boats, often with inadequate life jackets. To avoid this, the West Coast police zone and the Federal Police require special attention for people who cross the Channel from the Belgian coast to the United Kingdom in small boats.
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Main Theme: Smuggling & Trafficking
Keywords: transmigrant, small boat, English channel
While not a new phenomenon, the exploitation of workers employed in the nail industry has gained increased attention in recent years. Multiple reports point to this sector as being a target of choice for human trafficking and economic exploitation.
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Main Theme: Smuggling & Trafficking
Keywords: economic exploitation, nail bar
According to Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, 5.037 persons obtained Belgian nationality in May 2024. The main countries of origin of people who acquired Belgian nationality in May are Morocco, Romania, Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey.
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Main Theme: Data & Statistics
Keywords: access to nationality, Belgian nationality
Cindy Ngamba, a 25-year-old Cameroonian refugee living in the United Kingdom, won the bronze medal in the boxing discipline at the Paris Olympics. She is the first athlete in any sport to secure a medal while representing the refugee team.
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Main Theme: International Protection
Keywords: Olympic Games, boxing, refugee olympic team
An IOM-Harvard report shows that close to half of the child victims of trafficking were being trafficked for forced labour (mainly boys), in a wide range of industries, such as domestic work, begging and agriculture. Sexual exploitation, including through prostitution, pornography, and sexual servitude, is also prominent, affecting 20 per cent of trafficked children, predominantly girls.
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Main Theme: Smuggling & Trafficking
Keywords: child trafficking, vulnerability, forced labour, sexual exploitation
As of 1 August 2024, the European Commission will support nine Member States, including Belgium, in preparing their National Implementation Plans for the Pact on Migration and Asylum. These countries will receive targeted support to carry out situational analysis and identify the necessary actions to implement the Pact in line with the Common Implementation Plan.