On 15 and 16 November 2022, EMN Belgium welcomed over 20 enthusiastic young people from a variety of backgrounds at its EMN Migration Youth Event. Over the course of two days, they were submerged in a programme focusing on both the theory and the practice of asylum and migration policy in Belgium and the European Union.
Main Theme: Cross-sectional

In the Chamber of Representatives today, Nicole de Moor presented the main lines of its policy on asylum and migration. Despite the many current challenges, the State Secretary intends to carry out reforms in this field.

EMN Belgium participated in the EMN Cyprus and EMN Luxembourg Joint national conference titled "Six months into applying the Temporary Protection Directive". The event took place in Cyprus on 13 October 2022.
Main Theme: Migration

An integral part of managing the EU’s external borders is respect for people’s fundamental rights. A new guidance from the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) suggests how EU countries should set up independent national schemes to monitor fundamental rights compliance at the EU’s external borders.
Main Theme: Borders & Visa

The Commission announced a series of measures to continue supporting those fleeing the unprovoked Russian aggression. A new online job-search tool launched today will help people fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine to successfully find a job in the European Union. After registering with the EU Talent Pool pilot initiative, those under temporary protection can upload their CVs, so that their profiles are available to more than 4,000 employers, national public employment services and private employment agencies. Ensuring a swift and effective integration into the labour market is important both for host communities, and for those fleeing the war to rebuild their lives.
Main Theme: Cross-sectional

This report presents key developments in the area of migration and asylum, and it takes stock of the progress achieved in the New Pact on Migration and Asylum in the past year. It also identifies key challenges ahead and recalls the steps needed for a more robust and fair migration and asylum policy.

Are you aspiring to be the next Ursula Von der Leyen? Are you eager to learn more about asylum and migration? Are you comfortable expressing yourself in English? The European Migration Network Belgium is happy to announce its Migration Youth Event, bringing together young people from all over Europe. Enriching discussions alternate with a visit to a reception centre, interactive learning tools are followed by stepping in the shoes of a refugee and fun is mixed with learning. After two days in the heart of decision-making ‘Brussels’, you return home with a backpack filled with new impressions, new knowledge and new connections!
Main Theme: Cross-sectional

EMN Belgium, the Belgian development agency Enabel, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Belgium & Luxembourg, organised on 1 & 2 June 2022 a (hybrid) conference on "Skills Mobility Partnerships”. Here you can find the PowerPoint presentations, the concept note, the videos and some photos of the event.

To what extent could digital services support migration and asylum management? This joint EMN-OECD inform focuses on specific areas in the asylum, migration and acquisition of citizenship procedures, and border control management, where digital technologies may be used.
Main Theme: Cross-sectional

The annual report contains a complete overview of the asylum figures of 2020. It also focuses on the impact of COVID-19, on the functioning of the CGRS and on the international asylum context. The annual report is available in Dutch and French in an online version and in PDF format.

The European Migration Network invites you to participate in a survey on one of its key products: the EMN Asylum and Migration Glossary.
Main Theme: Cross-sectional

In the second half of 2021 EMN Belgium will continue to provide input for multiple EMN outputs. This way EMN Belgium tries to contribute to an evidence-based migration and asylum policy in Belgium and the EU and Norway.
Main Theme: Cross-sectional

On 10 June 2021, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) published its fundamental rights report that takes stock of the developments regarding fundamental rights in the EU in 2020. Additionally, FRA also published its opinions on these developments and added a synopsis of the evidence supporting these opinions.
Main Theme: Cross-sectional

Since the first publication of the European Migration Network (EMN) Asylum and Migration Glossary in 2010, it has been a valuable resource for practitioners, policy-makers and researchers in the field of migration and asylum. By harmonising EU asylum and migration terms, the EMN Glossary offers an EU-wide multidisciplinary vocabulary of terms and concepts, translated into over 20 languages. The latest version of July 2020 contains approximately 500 terms.  
Main Theme: Cross-sectional

The year 2020 brought about unforeseen developments in the areas of migration and asylum. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the number of migrants, asylum applicants and returns, and also acted as a catalyst for development of new digital solutions in asylum and migration management. These new challenges came in addition to persisting ones such as the need to continuously improve migration management systems and ensure the protection of refugees. The Annual Report on Migration and Asylum, published by the European Migration Network (EMN), provides an overview of the key developments in the EU Member States and Norway in 2020.
Main Theme: Cross-sectional

We are celebrating EMN Day! On 11 June we will launch the Annual Report on Migration & Asylum 2020, discussing ways to make migration management systems more effective and efficient. ? 11:00-13:00 CEST  
Main Theme: Cross-sectional

On 2 June 2021, the European Commission presented its new Schengen Strategy, which was accompanied by a proposal to revise the Schengen evaluation and monitoring mechanism.    
Main Theme: Borders & Visa

On 5 May 2021, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted the Action Plan on Protecting Vulnerable Persons in the Context of Migration and Asylum in Europe (2021-2025) to increase cooperation among member states to protect the most vulnerable persons.
Main Theme: Vulnerable groups

The Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) launched asyluminbelgium.be. This new website provides information in nine languages about the asylum procedure in Belgium, tailored to the needs of asylum seekers. 

Georgia and Moldova have joined the EMN in March 2021 as observers. This will enhance mutual collaboration and understanding on asylum and migration.
Main Theme: Cross-sectional
Keywords: Eastern Europe

On 15 December, EMN Belgium and the EMN Return Expert Group hosted a webinar on Alternatives to Detention. The online event focused on the current legal framework on alternatives to detention, the implementation of these alternatives in practice and the identification of emerging good practices and pilot projects.
Main Theme: Return & Readmission
Keywords: Conférence EMN

The new State Secretary for Asylum and Migration, Sammy Mahdi (CD&V) presented his General Policy Paper on Asylum and Migration in Parliament on 18 November 2020.
Main Theme: Migration
Keywords: policy paper

On 16 September 2020, the Interior Committee of the Belgian House of Representatives held a parliamentary hearing on a legislative proposal concerning the prohibition of detention of minors. EMN Belgium contributed to the hearing by presenting the laws, policies and practices in other EU Member States.

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

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