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.
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.
EU leaders have agreed to take action to make sure migrants who are not allowed to stay legally in Europe are returned to their countries of origin.
In Brussels, hundreds of people have been camping for weeks in front of the only registration center for asylum seekers, which is also responsible for providing them with shelter. But the accommodation network is completely saturated, so the migrants find themselves sleeping on the street, in the cold and in the middle of waste and rats.
Four months after ending their hunger strike, about fifty undocumented migrants are still occupying the Béguinage church in the center of Brussels. Despite discussions held with authorities in the summer, most of the migrants are still waiting to have their status officially regularized. They hold little hope that they will one day get papers.
Twenty-four migrants trying to reach England in a small boat were rescued off the Belgian coast on Wednesday. An elderly woman was among those rescued. They had been at sea for two days.
This summer's extended hunger strike by undocumented migrants in Belgium revealed the shortcomings of the Belgian administration in terms of integration processes for all foreigners. InfoMigrants looks at the different options for living legally in the country.
The European Court of Auditors has published a report saying that more sharing of data between EU nations would help to counter migrant trafficking.
The Belgian government announced a breakthrough on Wednesday, as hundreds of migrants stopped their hunger strike in Brussels after authorities signalled their willingness to renegotiate the situation. However, it is not clear if they will ultimately gain the right to remain in the country.
Fears continue to grow for the health of hundreds of undocumented migrants in Belgium who have stepped up a hunger strike aimed at getting the authorities to let them stay. The migrants have been refusing to eat for two months.
Concerns are growing over a hunger strike by hundreds of undocumented migrants in Belgium's capital. Four men have stitched their lips together in protest against the authorities' refusal to grant them legal status.
The European Union Agency for Asylum is intended to make the bloc's asylum procedures more efficient and uniform.