European lawmakers approved changes to the European Union's asylum system on Tuesday, paving the way for accelerated deportations of rejected migrants, underscoring the strengthening of anti-immigrant policies over the past decade.
The text, which requires final formal approval by the governments of the 27 EU member states, marks a sharp tightening of EU migration policy, which took shape after an influx of more than a million refugees and migrants in 2015-16.
The move has drawn sharp criticism from humanitarian groups who said it could lead to human rights violations and a reduction in asylum rights under a 1951 convention that prohibits refoulement. of migrants to countries where they could be in danger.
The European Parliament has approved changes to the Asylum Procedures Regulation, introducing a list of countries deemed "safe" to which migrants who have been refused asylum can be returned. The list includes countries such as Egypt and Tunisia, whose human rights records have been scrutinised.
Under the new rules, EU countries can reject asylum applications if the person could have obtained protection in a country the bloc considers safe.
Lawmakers also agreed on a regulation to set out rules on returning migrants across the EU, including obligations for those who have been issued return orders for the first time.
Migrants who do not leave voluntarily could be sentenced to prison for failing to cooperate, under the new rules. The new rules will also allow EU countries to set up "return centres" outside the EU, like those set up by Italy in Albania.
The changes stem from a set of EU rules and processes for managing migration, known as the Migration Pact, approved in 2023 but not expected to be fully implemented until June 2026.
Anti-immigrant rhetoric has been rising across the EU since more than a million people, mainly from Syria, arrived across the Mediterranean in 2015. This sentiment has boosted public support for right-wing nationalist parties, pushing governments to adopt increasingly restrictive migration policies focused on returns.