When Belgium signed up to the UN Migration pact in December, the Prime Minister said he wanted to be 'on the right side of history.' At the same time, the government has faced criticism for 'stigmatizing and criminalizing' migrants.
More than 2,000 Syrian refugees alone arrived in Italy, France, Belgium and Andorra in 2018 through humanitarian corridor projects.
The Council of Europe has released a child-friendly handbook on migration that provides guidelines for professionals working with migrant minors on how to give correct and age-appropriate information regarding their rights.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel handed in his resignation on Tuesday, less than two months after his main coalition partner quit in a row over migration, leaving him leading a minority government.
The European Parliament gave its green light to a proposal to introduce humanitarian visas for refugees in the European Union with the objective of improving the management of the migratory phenomenon.
The European External Action Service has presented a new proposal on the table of the Political and Security Committee (PSC) to continue talks on operation Sophia, which reached an impasse on the issue of migrants rescued by the mission's vessels.
Luxembourg has made progress in the fight against human trafficking, but needs to adopt further measures to improve identification of victims, said experts at the Council of Europe.
As EU leaders discussed migration at the European Parliament in Brussels on Thursday, migrants and refugees themselves gathered next door to discuss their challenges at a first refugee and migrant summit at EU level.
Cells without windows, showers that can’t be used, poor safety standards and random medical check-ups: Belgium's new detention center for irregular migrants is coming under increasing fire for the "inhuman" conditions people are forced to endure while staying there. Four police unions have now called for a strike action demanding the controversial center to be closed down.
The EU-IOM Joint Initiative recently launched a website where it will provide first-hand migrant accounts as well as data and updates on the migration situation in the Mediterranean.
The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) might soon have expanded powers under a draft law presented by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. However, the motion still has to pass through the EU Parliament and needs support from all member states.
Detaining migrants who are in transit, doubling the number of places in holding centres, and increasing police controls: Belgium on September 10 announced a vast new plan to fight illegal immigration.