In a sweeping overhaul of deportation policy, European Union lawmakers and member states have agreed on rules that would let countries send migrants ordered to leave the bloc to centres in third countries.
The political deal comes as the EU continues to harden its approach to migration under growing pressure from right‑wing parties, even though irregular arrivals dropped 26% last year, reaching their lowest level since 2021.
The new legislation, proposed by the European Commission last year, still needs formal sign‑off from EU governments and the European Parliament before it can take effect.
Brussels argues the package would simplify return procedures and equip national authorities with additional ways to remove people from EU territory, while still upholding fundamental rights.
Member states, however, have long complained that they cannot reliably enforce return decisions for rejected asylum seekers and people who overstay visas.
According to the commission, only about 20% of those ordered to leave the EU currently depart.
At the centre of the plan is the option for EU countries to set up so‑called “return hubs” beyond the bloc’s borders for people whose asylum applications have been rejected or who have otherwise been ordered to leave.
Under the agreed rules, deportees could be transferred to hubs in countries with which they have no connections.
“With the new rules, we have more control over who can come to the EU, who can stay, and who needs to leave,” said European Commissioner Magnus Brunner.
Home raids
The draft legislation also lengthens detention periods and introduces penalties for non‑cooperation, including entry bans, fines and potential criminal sanctions.
It would authorise officials to seize belongings, collect biometric data and search homes.
As a last resort, coercion would be permitted to obtain fingerprints.
The agreement further allows authorities to search migrants and “relevant premises”—language that rights groups say is too expansive and could open the door to home raids.
Human rights activists and NGOs supporting asylum seekers across the EU say some of these measures are already being used and have intensified in recent months. They point to an increase in deportations from Germany and other countries of recognised refugees to Greece and other EU border states.
In those locations, the groups say, authorities in some cases conduct night‑time home searches to detain individuals and move them to detention centres or airports for removal, sometimes without letting them collect their belongings.
Minos Mouzourakis, a lawyer and advocacy officer at Greece‑based non‑profit Refugee Support Aegean, said the draft law amounted to “a recipe for extremely damaging and extremely dangerous practices” in Europe.
French Green lawmaker Mélissa Camara said: “The legalisation of return hubs outside the European Union, the green light for the detention of minors, home visits inspired by ICE practices: The legal arsenal serving a xenophobic ideology is now complete.”
