Latest European and International developments on migration and asylum including update on refugee crisis

Latest developments 

• European Council conclusions on migration (17 December 2015).
• European Commission proposal on a European Border and Coast Guard Agency (15 December 2015).
• European Commission adopted infringement decisions for failing to fully transpose and implement the Common European Asylum System. The decisions concern Greece, Croatia, Italy, Malta and Hungary. (10 December 2015)
• European Commission announced further emergency humanitarian aid of €13 million to support refugees along the Western Balkans route. (10 December 2015)

Reports

• European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) launched a report on Social dimension of intra-EU mobility: Impact on public services.
• Asylum in Europe (AIDA) published an updated Country report: Croatia and an updated Country report: Belgium.
• International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) published two reports reports on Targeting Vulnerabilities: The Impact of the Syrian War and Refugee Situation on Trafficking in Persons, a study of Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq  and  on Integration, Transnational Mobility and Human, Social and Economic Capital Transfers: Country Report – Austria.

Statistics

• Eurostat figures show 413,800 first time asylum seekers applied for international protection in the Member States of the European Union in period July to September 2015.

Newsletters

• EASO Newsletter November/December 2015.
• Fundamental Rights Agency Newsletter November 2015.
• Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) Newsletter November 2015.
• European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) Newsletter November 2015 Issue 13.

Other developments

• 18 December 2015 marks the UN International Migrants Day.
• New Director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), Michael O’Flaherty started his tenure on 16 December 2015.
• Human Rights Day on 10 December 2015 was devoted to the launch of a year-long campaign to mark the 50^th anniversary of the two International Covenants on Human Rights: the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
• European Commission published call for Proposals on actions in the area of Integration under the Asylum, Migration and Integration.

10 December 2015

Developments

• Justice and Home Affairs Council approved the compromise text agreed with the European Parliament on the proposal for a directive on the use of passenger name record (PNR) data for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime.  (4 December 2015)
• Ministers also discussed the progress made in implementing the most recent EU measures regarding migration and on the actions needed to strengthen the Schengen area. See main meeting results. (4 December 2015)
• Justice and Home Affairs Council and the representatives of the Governments of the member states adopted conclusions on Statelessness. (4 December 2015)
• Statement by EU heads of state and government following a meeting with their Turkish counterpart, on developing EU-Turkey relations and contributing to managing the migration crisis (29 November 2015).

Reports

• European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) launched a report on Social dimension of intra-EU mobility: Impact on public services.

Forthcoming EU meetings

• 17-18 December 2015: European Council meeting of Heads of State or government of the EU’s member states, together with European Council President and the European Commission President.

23 November 2015

Developments

• Council of the EU and Member States agree to implement border and airline controls (23 November 2015).
• Outcome of Valletta summit on migration: A Political Declaration and a Valletta Action Plan to manage migration flows were agreed (13 November 2015).

9 November 2015

Developments

• Justice and Home Affairs Council conclusions on measures to handle the refugee and migration crisis (9 November 2015).
• Meeting on the Western Balkans Migration Route: Leaders Agree on 17-point plan of action (25 October 2015).
• European Union reached an agreement with Turkey on a Joint Action Plan (16 October 2015).
• European Council conclusions included orientations on cooperating with third countries to stem flows of migrants; agreement of an EU-Turkey joint action plan; strengthening the protection of the EU’s external borders (building on the Schengen acquis); responding to the inflows of refugees to Europe and ensuring returns, as well as discussing developments in Syria and Libya  (15 October 2015).
• European Commission reported on progress in implementation of priority actions under A European Agenda on Migration. See also A European Agenda on Migration – State of Play Factsheet (14 October 2015).
• European Parliament approved an €401.3 million in EU funding for migration (14 October 2015).

Reports/Publications 

• European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) published a research paper on Exploring new avenues for legislation for labour migration to the European Union (research by Migration Policy Centre, Robert Shuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute).
• Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published International Migration Outlook 2015.
• International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) Asylum Programme for Member States updated a thematic paper on An Effective Asylum Responsibility-Sharing Mechanism (updated version October 2015).
• Frontex published Frontex Risk Analysis Network (FRAN) Quarterly Report (Quarter 2, 2015) and analysis of the Eastern European Borders Risk Analysis Network Quarterly Report (Quarter 2, 2015).
• European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) published paper on Alternatives to detention for asylum seekers and people in return procedures and a report on Guardianship systems for children deprived of parental care in the European Union – With a particular focus on their role in responding to child trafficking.
• Migration Policy Institute published report on The Educational and Mental Health Needs of Syrian Refugee Children
• European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published monitoring reports on Austria, the Czech Republic and Estonia.

Statistics / Trends / Maps

• Frontex update: 710,000 migrants entered EU in first nine months of 2015.
• EASO latest asylum trends (August).
• Frontex published migratory route maps.
• IOM presented an Overview of Migration flows in Europe.  

Newsletters

• EMN Bulletin: June – September 2015 (Issue 12).
• EASO Newsletter September 2015.
• European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) Newsletter September 2015 (Issue 11).  

Events

• 20 October 2015: Migration Policy Institute (MPI) Europe Webinar: MPI Europe host a video chat – Responding to the European Refugee Crisis: What’s Next for the European Asylum Support Office?
• 22 – 23 October 2015: ERA (Academy of European Law) Annual Conference on European Asylum Law 2015, Trier.
• 30 – 31 October 2015: European Legal Network on Asylum (ELENA) 30^th anniversary advanced course on legal avenues for strengthening international protection in Europe, Bologna, Italy.

8 October 2015

Developments

• Justice and Home Affairs Council conclusions on the future of the return policy (8 October 2015).
• Justice and Home Affairs Council approved additional financial assistance from the 2015 EU budget in response to the migration crisis. This puts into effect the commitments made by the European Council on 23 September 2015 (8 October 2015).
• Declaration of the High-level Conference on the Eastern Mediterranean – Western Balkans Route (8 October 2015).
• Speech by Commissioner Marianne Thyssen: EU funds in support of the refugee crisis at extraordinary meeting with managing authorities of the ESF and FEAD in the context of the refugee crisis (25 September 2015).
• Statement following extraordinary, informal meeting of EU heads of state and government on migration (23 September 2015).
• Press release by the European Commission on More Responsibility in managing the refugee crisis: European Commission adopts 40 infringement decisions to make European Asylum System work (23 September 2015).
• Press release by the European Commission on Managing the refugee crisis: Immediate operational, budgetary and legal measures under the European Agenda on Migration as a follow-up to extraordinary informal meeting of heads of state or government (23 September 2015).
• Council decision establishing provisional measures in the area of international protection for the benefit of Italy and Greece following extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council (22 September 2015).
• Statement by the European Commission on relocation of 120,000 refugees following the decision at the Extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council (22 September 2015).
• President Tusk convened an extraordinary, informal meeting of the heads of state and government to take place on Wednesday 23 September 2015 at 18:00 to discuss how to deal with the refugee crisis (17 September 2015).
• Remarks by Commissioner Avramopoulos during his visit to Hungary (17 September 2015)
• Statement by the European Commission regarding temporary reintroduction of controls by Slovenia at its border with the Republic of Hungary (17 September 2015).
• MEPs vote in favour of the European Commission’s proposal to relocate an additional 120,000 asylum seekers in the EU (17 September 2015).
• Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the European Union convenes an extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council on 22 September 2015 (16 September 2015).
• Statement by the European Commission regarding temporary reintroduction of border controls by Austria (15 September 2015).
• Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the European Union issue conclusions following the extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council of 14 September 2015 (14 September 2015).
• Statement by the European Commission regarding the temporary reintroduction of border controls by Germany (13 September 2015).
• State of the Union 2015: Time for Honesty, Unity and Solidarity speech by President Jean-Claude Juncker (9 September 2015).

Reports/Publications

• International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) published a training manual for law enforcement officers entitled Human Trafficking – How to Investigate It.
• Frontex published analysis of Western Balkans: Western Balkans Quarterly (Quarter 2, 2015).
• EASO published a Country of Origin Information report on Pakistan: Country Overview.
• IOM Missing Migrant Project issued an infographic on migrant arrivals and fatalities in the Mediterranean region.
• AIDA (Asylum Information Database) released their Annual Report 2014/15 entitled Common Asylum System at a Turning Point: Refugees Caught in Europe’s Solidarity Crisis.

Statistics

• Frontex: More than 500,000 migrants detected at EU external borders so far this year
• Eurostat figures show 213,200 first time asylum seekers applied for protection in the European Union (EU) during the second quarter of 2015 (from April to June 2015) , up by 15% compared with the first quarter of 2015.

Newsletters

• Fundamental Rights Agency newsletter September 2015.
• Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) newsletter September 2015.
• EASO newsletter July/August 2015.

Events

•  7 October 2015: EMN Conference – 30 Years of the Schengen Agreement, Luxembourg.
• 14 – 16 October 2015: ECRE Annual General Conference and UNHCR NGO Consultations, The Hague, The Netherlands.
• 22 – 23 October 2015: ERA (Academy of European Law) Annual Conference on European Asylum Law 2015, Trier.
• 30 – 31 October 2015: European Legal Network on Asylum (ELENA) 30^th anniversary advanced course on legal avenues for strengthening international protection in Europe, Bologna, Italy.

30 July 2015

Developments

• European Council meeting on 20 July 2015 adopted a resolution on relocating from Greece and Italy 40,000 persons in clear need of international protection as well as resolution on resettling 22,504 displaced persons from outside the EU, who are in clear need of international protection through multilateral and national schemes.  The Council will formally adopt the decision once the European Parliament gives its opinion, which is expected in September. Safe countries of Origin, EU Return Policy and the Valletta Summit were also discussed at the meeting.
• MEPs call for more EU solidarity on visit to reception centres in Sicily in July 2015.
• European Commission, DG Migration and Home Affairs has launched a public consultation on the Smart Borders Package.
• European Commission, DG Migration and Home Affairs has issued a call for expressions of interest from external experts for the evaluation of AMIF projects.
• European Commission has issued a call for proposals for Actions addressing trafficking in human beings.

Reports / Publications

• European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published Settling In, a joint report on indicators of integration of migrants.
• Frontex published first quarterly analysis of Eastern borders (2015) and quarterly (Q1) analysis of Western Balkans (2015) as well as FRAN (Frontex Risk Analysis Network) Quarterly rep