EU lawmakers approve ‘return hubs’ migration reform

BRUSSELS:

European lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to tougher migration rules that will grant authorities much broader detention powers and allow for the creation of deportation centres outside the bloc.

The 418 to 218 vote in Strasbourg was 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.

It was welcomed with cheers from right and far-right parliamentarians and chants of “shame on you” from the left of the assembly, underscoring deep divisions over a text severely criticised by human rights groups.

“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.

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.

“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.

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.