Cannes Film Festival favourites stick up for migrant kids in EU
Two-time Cannes winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's new film "Tori and Lokita" is a call for the EU to do a better job in protecting the most vulnerable: child migrants.
Belgium
UK authorities arrest alleged small-boat smuggler 'kingpin'
The UK’s National Crime Agency has arrested a man in east London who they suspect was a "leading figure in an organized crime group supplying significant numbers of small boats to people smugglers."
Belgium rejects asylum claims of hundreds of Afghans
Hundreds of Afghans have had their asylum applications refused by Belgian authorities. They could face deportation to Afghanistan, where the Belgian Commissioner General for Refugees says the security situation has improved.
Belgium: The arrival of unaccompanied minors from Ukraine highlights issues caused by lack of legal guardians
Among the Ukrainian refugees arriving in Belgium are 600 unaccompanied minors. In order to register them administratively they need to be assigned legal guardians, according to Belgian law. But the numbers of those qualified to do this are insufficient. Almost 900 unaccompanied minors are still waiting to be assigned a guardian in Belgium.
'They feel abandoned': Non-Ukrainian asylum seekers in Belgium left out in the cold
The global solidarity with Ukrainian refugees is also being demonstrated in Belgium, where they have opened a center dedicated to registering Ukrainian asylum applications. Local NGOs express regret that all asylum seekers are not receiving the same warm hand of welcome.
UK: Smuggler jailed over October 2019 Vietnamese migrant lorry deaths
Another person has been jailed in the UK for his part in a people smuggling operation that led to the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants inside a lorry in October 2019.
Made in China: How smugglers import boats to continue with irregular Channel crossings
The UK Home Office has revealed that many of the boats being used by migrants to cross the English Channel are now being purchased in China to then be imported to Eastern Europe and later be used by smugglers.
New EU asylum agency to provide greater rights protection
A new independent body, the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), will safeguard those applying for protection in Europe against rights violations. It also aims to make asylum standards more consistent across the Member States.
Belgian court jails trafficking gang leader over migrant lorry deaths
A Belgian court sentenced a Vietnamese man to 15 years in prison on Wednesday after convicting him of being the ringleader in the trafficking of 39 migrants found dead in a lorry.
Asylum seekers in Belgium receive training in hotel management
The Belgium government has presented a plan to integrate asylum seekers into the labor market by training them in the fields of catering and hotel management. This helps migrants to learn a trade while their asylum application is being processed and also fills a labor shortage.
Migrants face uncertain future as Brussels church occupation ends
One year after undocumented migrants started staging a hunger strike at the Beguinage church in Brussels, the church has requested an end to the occupation. The migrants still have not received a ruling on their residency applications.
UK seeks scientific methods to determine asylum seekers' age
The United Kingdom has announced that it will be introducing measures to stop adult-age asylum seekers from posing as underage minors. The government said it would use new scientific assessments to determine the actual age of applicants.