The UN Committee against Torture (CAT) expressed both positive and negative observations on Belgium, following the examination of the third periodic report on Belgium.
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Main Theme: International Protection, Return & Readmission
Keywords: detention
On 14 November 2013, Maggie De Block, Annemie Turtelboom and Joëlle Milquet have approved a new measure in the fight against marriages of convenience, that should tackle 'shopping' between municipalities.
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Main Theme: Family reunification
Keywords: marriage of convenience
On 14 November, Maggie De Block, Annemie Turtelboom and Joëlle Milquet have launched a new campaign in the fight against relations of convenience. Victims are supported and stimulated to actively contribute to fight this phenomenon.
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Main Theme: Family reunification
Keywords: marriage of convenience
On 14 November, the European Court of Human Rights condemned Belgium in the case of M.D. v Belgium for infringing the right to an effective remedy on short delay, as captured in Article 5 §4 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
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Main Theme: International Protection
Keywords: detention, effective remedy
Every month, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless persons (CGRS) publishes a document providing the statistics on asylum applications and first instance decisions.
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Main Theme: International Protection, Data & Statistics
Keywords: asylum applications, asylum decisions
On 7 November, the European Court of Justice judged that homosexual applicants for asylum can constitute a particular social group who may be persecuted on account of their sexual orientation.
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Main Theme: International Protection
Keywords: Court of Justice of the European Union, sexual orientation
On 5 and 6 November, the Lithuanian EU Presidency hosted the EMN Annual conference. This edition focussed on the achievements and challenges of EU labour migration and the role of migration in the EU Agenda for Growth.
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Main Theme: Economic migration
Keywords: EMN Annual Conference, growth, labour migration, labour migration policy
EASO launched the October edition of the EASO newsletter. The newsletter provides an overview of recent EASO activities and outputs.
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Main Theme: International Protection
Keywords: EASO, country of origin information (COI), Lampedusa
The European Parliament and Council provisionally agreed on a draft directive that will manage temporary legal migration and ensure protection of workers from exploitation.
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Main Theme: Economic migration
Keywords: seasonal employment, seasonal workers directive
On 25 October 2013 the Belgian National Contact Point of the European Migration Network organised a conference on the reception of asylum seekers in Belgium and the EU.
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Main Theme: Reception
Keywords: reception law, reception policy
Starting from today, 18 October 2013, a new definition of "short stay" and another method of calculating the period of short stay, must be applied by all EU Member States.
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Main Theme: Borders & Visa
Keywords: Schengen acquis
Today, 18 October 2013, three international anti-trafficking expert mechanisms called for a global response to fight the transnational scourge of trafficking in persons.
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Main Theme: Smuggling & Trafficking
Keywords: GRETA, human trafficking, OSCE
The Members of the European Parliament approved the operating rules of Eurosur, a communication network that enables Member States to share real-time images and data on development at the EU's external borders.
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Main Theme: Borders & Visa
Keywords: EUROSUR, external border, Lampedusa
On 7 and 8 October, the JHA Council held its 3260th meeting, discussing several topics, including the recent case of Lampedusa, the protection of Syrian refugees and freedom of movement.
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Main Theme: Irregular Migration
Keywords: freedom of movement, Frontex, smuggling of migrants
Following the UN High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development on 3-4 October 2013, the Members of the General Assembly unanimously adopted a Declaration, recognizing the major relevance of international migration for the development of origin, transit and destination countries.
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Main Theme: External Dimension
Keywords: high-level dialogue en migration and development, United Nations
Every month, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless persons (CGRS) publishes a document providing the statistics on asylum applications and first instance decisions.
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Main Theme: International Protection, Data & Statistics
Keywords: asylum applications, asylum decisions
The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) has published its work programme for 2014, putting particular emphasis on the support to Member States' implementation of the recast asylum package and further development of the Early Warning and Preparedness System.
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Today, 3 october 2013, the law of 2 June 2013 (published on 23 september 2013) has entered into force. The act amends the Civil Code, the Penal Code, the Judicial Code and the Aliens Act, to strengthen the fight against marriages and legal cohabitations of convenience.
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Main Theme: Irregular Migration
Keywords: legal cohabitation, marriage of convenience
The Migration Policy Institute has published a series of policy briefs that distill the accumulated evidence and experience on eight specific aspects of migration and development, and offer recommendations to policymakers.
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Main Theme: Migration
Keywords: circular migration, development, diaspora, remittances
On 30 September 2013, the Belgian EMN NCP organized a lunch debate to present and discuss on the outcomes of the recently published study "Attracting highly qualified and qualified third-country nationals". The national television showed up and covered the event in the one o'clock news.
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Main Theme: Economic migration
Keywords: European Migration Network
Presentation EMN Study: Attracting Highly Qualified and Qualified Third Country Nationals to Belgium
On 30 September, the Belgian Contact Point of the EMN holds a lunchmeeting on attracting highly skilled and skilled third country nationals. A reflection is also launched towards the future regionalization of labor migration policy.
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Main Theme: Economic migration
Keywords: highly skilled workers
EASO launched the September edition of the EASO newsletter. The newsletter provides an overview of recent EASO activities and outputs.
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Main Theme: International Protection
Keywords: country of origin information (COI), EASO, EASO annual report
Today, 30 september, an Inter-Ministerial Conference on the application of the International Convention for the suppression of the traffic in persons and the exploitation of the prostitution of others, by the EU Member States, has taken place in Brussels, at the eve of it's 65th birthday.
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Main Theme: Smuggling & Trafficking
Keywords: sexual exploitation, convention on fighting human trafficking
As of today, you can access the new official EMN EU website. This move, together with a thorough review of its contents, leads to more visibility and the dissemination to a wider public of the network and of its activities and outputs.
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Main Theme: Asylum, Migration
Keywords: European Migration Network
At the Metropolis Conference in Tampere, September 13th, Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, looked back to achievements accomplished and challenges still to be faced by the EU in relation to the Common European Asylum System.