European lawmakers are set to give final approval Wednesday to tougher migration rules that will grant authorities broader powers to detain irregular arrivals and allow for the creation of deportation centres outside the bloc.
Landmark Reform
The vote in Strasbourg is one of the last hurdles for a reform that has sailed through the EU's notoriously long legislative process as Brussels and member states respond to political pressure to curb migration.
"This regulation tells everybody that it is us and not the smugglers deciding who can stay in the European Union and who must leave," said Magnus Brunner, the EU's commissioner for migration.
Return Hubs
Criticized by human rights groups, the text notably enables nations to open "return hubs" outside the EU's borders, where migrants with no right to stay could be sent — something a group of countries is raring to do.
Denmark, Austria, Greece, Germany and the Netherlands and others have already been exploring options to set hubs up.
Until recently a fringe idea, the plan got further endorsement Tuesday, when a majority of EU nations agreed to seek to secure EU money to run such centres in a move opposed by France and Spain.
"Our goal is to conclude the first agreements for the creation of these structures in 2026, so that they are operational from 2027," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday.
Political Pressure
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, the focus in Brussels has turned to improving the repatriation system, which currently sees less than 30 percent of people ordered to leave actually returned to their country of origin.
"This marks the end of decades of powerlessness in the face of illegal immigration," centre-right French EU lawmaker Francois-Xavier Bellamy said of the reform.
Strict Obligations
Besides return hubs, the new measures establish a strict obligation for migrants subject to expulsion to leave and cooperate with authorities to that end.
Those who do not, or who pose a security risk or are thought to be at risk of absconding, can be detained for up to two years.
Such provisions have sparked an outcry from human rights groups and left-wing politicians.
Maria Nyman of Catholic humanitarian aid group Caritas said the changes risk "stigmatizing and criminalizing migrants, fuelling polarisation at a time when our societies urgently need greater cohesion."
Under the new rules authorities would be allowed to search third-country nationals, their homes or other "relevant premises" and seize personal belongings, in their push to ensure the return of irregular migrants.
Alessandro Zan of the centre-left S&D group described the reform as "a dark chapter for Europe".
"It paves the way for forced deportations, increasingly invasive Trump-era ICE-style checks, and the normalization of detention even for people who committed no crime," he said, referring to the heavy-handed practices used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the United States under President Donald Trump.
