EU Seals Strictest-Ever Migration Law, Allowing Deportation Hubs Outside the Bloc
The EU has finalized its toughest migration crackdown in decades. European Parliament negotiators and EU member states agreed Monday on a new Return Regulation that allows deporting rejected asylum seekers to centers outside the bloc, increases detention periods, toughens entry bans, and permits home searches to locate irregular migrants.
At the core of the law is a provision allowing EU countries to establish so-called "return hubs" in non-EU nations by striking bilateral agreements. Under current rules, migrants can only be returned to their country of origin or a country they have a proven connection to. That requirement is being scrapped under the new law. Only unaccompanied minors are exempt, though families with children can still be sent to these hubs.
"The legal framework for what she described as a xenophobic ideology was now complete." — Greens MEP Mélissa Camara
The law also raises the maximum detention period for irregular migrants from six months to two years, with a potential six-month extension and no cap at all for those deemed security risks. Entry bans are being doubled from five to ten years in most cases, with lifetime bans possible for security threats. Deportations will no longer be automatically paused during legal appeals.
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner called the deal "a really very important step in making sure we have control over who comes and who has to leave the EU." According to official figures, currently only 29% of migrants with no legal right to remain in the EU actually leave.
Greece is among the five EU countries, alongside Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and Denmark, already working to identify potential partner nations for future return centers. The regulation still needs formal approval from MEPs and member states before entering into force, possibly as early as next month.
Civil society groups have pushed back hard. Greens MEP Mélissa Camara called the deal "the result of a shameful agreement" and said the legal framework for what she described as a xenophobic ideology was now complete. NGOs have also compared the home search provisions to ICE-style raids in the United States.
