19-05-2025
EU To Announce Major Changes To Asylum Seeker Deportation System
The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, is expected to announce its proposals to reform the rules around what is and is not considered a safe country to deport people to. In particular, the reforms are expected to remove the requirement that a deportee have a connection to the country of deportation, something that would mark a major shift in policy up until now. It is also expected to be announced that a deportation process can begin or continue even when an appeal is in process.
The announcement comes on the heels of proposed revisions to the EU's Returns Directive, which laid the groundwork for individual member states to pursue so-called 'return hubs' - effectively a system in which compliant non-EU countries would be used as the site for deportation centers, outside of the EU's jurisdiction. Various EU member states are eager to get their own scheme going, taking after the existing but legally fraught Italy-Albania deal, and the U.K. is known to be pursuing a similar scheme of its own.
The expected EU revisions are a key step in making such return hubs a reality, as they will remove the obligation for states to only deport people back to somewhere they have a connection (where they were born or had been resident previously, for instance). This 'connection criteria' is considered critical in humanitarian policy, as without it someone can be deported to a country and situation completely foreign to them and face myriad challenges to their life and wellbeing.
With these reforms, the EU 'is paving the way for migrants to be removed and deported basically anywhere, putting people in danger whilst enriching security companies invested in the business of deportation,' says Sarah Chander, Director of Equinox Initiative for Racial Justice.
Advocates for the removal of the 'connection criteria' essentially argue that given the existing human rights, refugee and humanitarian frameworks, European states are unable to deport people who have had their asylum applications rejected, pose a security threat, or are in some other way considered undesirable. This is compounded by the refusal of many countries of origin to accept people who have been sent back against their will, as well as various other logistical problems, especially since the pandemic.
The EU is also expected to announce that, where previously an appeal to a deportation order would see that deportation suspended until the process is complete, states will be able to deport people even when there is an ongoing appeal. This raises myriad procedural issues, not least of them being the problem of how someone who has been unfairly deported could seek redress and return once outside the EU's jurisdiction.
This revision has been strongly condemned by human rights and civil society groups, as well as members of the European Parliament (MEPs).
The proposed revisions to speed up deportation would amount to 'tearing international law apart,' said Spanish MEP and human rights activist Estrella Galan. "We firmly oppose this migration policy, dictated by the far right, that aims to seal off Europe at any cost – even at the expense of human rights.'
