European lawmakers cleared the way Thursday for tougher penalties for irregular migrants and their potential deportation to so-called “return hubs” outside the bloc.
The measures, criticised by human rights groups, are part of a tightening of Europe’s immigration rules in response to pressure across the 27-nation bloc to curb migration.
The European Parliament approved the package with support from centre-right and far-right groups in a 389 to 206 vote in Brussels — bringing it a step closer to final approval.
Italy’s far-right leader Giorgia Meloni hailed the vote as an “important step towards making repatriations more effective, strengthening border control, and finally giving Europe a more credible migration policy”.
The reform would notably allow for the opening of centres or “return hubs” outside the EU’s borders to which migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected would be sent.
It also envisages harsher penalties for migrants who refuse to leave, including through detention and entry bans.
It has proven divisive.
“These appalling laws will undermine our societies, increase fear, and push innocent people into hiding for fear of prison and deportation,” said Cecilia Strada, an Italian lawmaker with the centre-left S&D group.
Some in the bloc, including France and Spain, have questioned the effectiveness of return centres, which the International Rescue Committee (IRC), an NGO, has described as “legal black holes”.
“They will be located outside of EU territory, where policymakers cannot guarantee that people’s rights will be upheld,” said the IRC’s Marta Welander.
A small group of countries, including Denmark, Austria, Greece, Germany and the Netherlands, is nevertheless ploughing ahead and exploring options to set them up, according to a diplomatic source.
“We are now continuing down this path with determination and aim to have reached agreements with third countries by the end of this year,” said German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt.
– ‘ICE-style’ –
Proponents say the hubs could act as a deterrent and discourage migrants from attempting to reach Europe in the first place.
Critics instead point to the hurdles faced by similar projects.
Britain abandoned a scheme to deport undocumented migrants to Rwanda, while Italian-run facilities to process migrants in Albania have faced legal challenges and a slow uptake.
EU member states gave their green light to the package — first proposed by the European Commission last year — in December.
Negotiations with parliament after the vote are likely to zero in on a small number of issues, including the extent of search powers that could be granted to authorities seeking out irregular migrants, observers say.
A group of 70 rights groups warned in February that the reform would allow for “ICE-style immigration enforcement” — a reference to the heavy-handed practices used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the United States under President Donald Trump.
European governments have sought a tougher stance amid a souring of public opinion on migration that has fuelled far-right electoral gains across the continent.
With migrant arrivals down in 2025, focus in Brussels has turned to improving the repatriation system, which currently sees about 20 percent of people ordered to leave actually returned to their country of origin.
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