Europe to open new routes to deport migrants

Interior ministers of European Union member states have agreed significantly tighter rules to send failed asylum seekers to so-called hubs outside the 27-member bloc, marking a turn toward a harsher approach to the contentious issue of migration.

The new proposals, which require approval by the European Parliament, would allow member nations to come to agreements with non-EU countries to act as return hubs, and were described by EU migration commissioner Magnus Brunner as "a turning point in European migration and asylum policy".

Rasmus Stoklund, migration minister of Denmark, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, told the Financial Times: "It paves the way for enabling member states to establish reception centers outside of Europe … in Africa for instance. It has the potential to change the future of Europe quite dramatically within the coming years."

The Netherlands already has an agreement signed with Uganda for it to take its rejected asylum seekers, and Italy, which draws significant numbers of migrants across the Mediterranean Sea, came to an arrangement with Albania some time ago.

Italy's deal has been dogged by legal challenges, but speaking in Rome last month, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni insisted it would still be used when proposed new rules come into force.

"When the (EU) migration and asylum pact comes into effect, the centers will operate exactly as they should have from the beginning," she added.

Davor Bozinovic, deputy prime minister of Croatia, welcomed the new proposals, calling it "an effective day", and said the message sent out by the tightened rules would stop people from even thinking about attempting entry in the first place.

Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco, and Tunisia have been added to the EU's list of safe countries of origin, meaning people from those nations will see their applications fast-tracked on the basis that they are more likely to be rejected, so they can be removed from the system more quickly.

Other measures include entry bans for people who are not allowed to stay in the bloc, and increased rights for authorities to search people's properties and impound their possessions, which have been compared unfavorably with the policies of the United States' Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, whose agents have drawn heavy criticism for their often forceful and aggressive handling of people suspected of being migrants.

Melissa Camara, a European parliamentarian from the Green Party in France, said outsourcing people to third countries where their human rights could not be guaranteed was "reckless and short-sighted", but Alessandro Ciriani, a Conservative member from Italy, said the proposals represented "a crucial step toward providing the (EU) with clearer, more coherent and genuinely enforceable rules for managing migration flows".

"I hope that Parliament will soon be able to open negotiations with the (European) Council on a solid and broadly acceptable basis … I trust that we will proceed with a sense of responsibility, so that Europe can adopt effective tools to manage migration flows while upholding the values we share," Ciriani said.

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