The EU is in the process of tightening its migration policy once again. MEPs and European states reached an agreement on Monday evening towards tougher action on this issue.
The compromise will have to be voted on one last time by the European Parliament and the member states in the coming weeks.
Evictions made easier
The law provides for measures to speed up expulsions and allows states which wish to do so to set up centers outside Europe, to send back asylum seekers. Some European countries like Denmark, Austria or Germany are already starting to imagine where to set up these centers, for example in Rwanda, Uganda or Uzbekistan.
The idea of creating these “return hubs”, without links to the migrants’ country of origin, is not new. It was tested by Giorgia Meloni’s Italy in Albania, even before their asylum application was examined, contrary to what the new European law provides. But the center in Albania has long remained empty due to a series of legal challenges.
Skeptical France
And it will take time for States to develop such projects, in agreement with the third countries which would host them. France has also been skeptical about such centers and Spain has opposed them, seeing them as a threat to respect for human rights.
The new text, on the other hand, provides for stricter sanctions for migrants refusing to leave EU soil, such as seizure of identity documents or an extended period of detention of up to 24 months. The return of migrants against their will would also be accompanied by a ban on entry into the EU extended to 10 years (compared to 5 years currently), or even 20 years.
Today, around 20% of expulsion decisions are actually successful. But with the new rules, the EU will have “better control to ensure returns are made. This is what citizens expect and this is what we offer them,” says European Commissioner in charge of immigration Magnus Brunner.
Push from the right and the far right
During the negotiations in Brussels, the main standoff concerned the date of application of the various measures. States will have the possibility of directly initiating return centers, but other measures will only come into force one year after the publication of the law, for legal reasons in particular.
Our articles on the European Union
In any case, the text marks a clear tightening of the European Union’s migration policy, only two years after the adoption of the Asylum and Migration Pact, which is just now entering into force. The new text validated Monday evening above all reflects the push of the right and the extreme right in the European Parliament.
