A High-Level Officials Meeting was held in December 2021, to assess progress in the implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees.
Belgium pledged to create a legal status for stateless persons, by committing to set in motion in 2022 a “legal process to provide stateless persons who cannot return to their home country a right of residence in Belgium”. The pledge has been reiterated in the annual work programme on asylum and migration, announced by State Secretary Mahdi before the Belgian Parliament. The European Network on Statelessness very much welcomes this pledge, which addresses a key gap in the protection of stateless persons, and will continue to collaborate with members and partners in Belgium to support this initiative.
