The European Union has advanced measures to combat illegal migration this week. These include easier deportations for irregular migrants and asylum seekers, plus a new sanctions regime against smugglers.
EU countries agreed on three laws to speed up asylum procedures and boost returns. The European Commission announced sanctions targeting people-smugglers.
Sanctions to bankrupt smugglers
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Wednesday a strict new sanctions regime developed with G7 partners.
“Our goal is simple. We want to bankrupt their businesses through all means available,” she said. The measures aim to freeze smugglers’ assets and impose travel bans to restrict their movements.
She spoke at the International Conference of the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling in Brussels. Over 80 delegations attended, including EU members and non-EU states. The Commission will propose concrete measures after consulting member states. The timing remains unclear.
More than 50 delegations endorsed a joint declaration. It focuses on preventing smuggling through stronger national frameworks and information exchange, developing legal migration alternatives, and intensifying financial investigations to seize smuggling proceeds.
“If we want to stop smugglers, we need to work together at a global level,” EU Commissioner for Migration Magnus Brunner told Euronews.
Easier deportations and return hubs
The EU Council agreed on Monday to three legislative changes. These await negotiation with the European Parliament for final approval.
One is the return regulation. It allows member states to establish “return hubs” in non-EU third countries. Rejected asylum seekers could transfer there.
Return hubs could serve as transit points before final return to origin countries. Italy already operates two centres in Albania. They could also become final destinations if third countries accept non-nationals and meet human rights standards. This speeds up returns but risks sending migrants to unrelated countries.
Another law expands the “safe third country” concept. It broadens cases where asylum applications become inadmissible. EU states could deport asylum seekers to third countries without personal links, if agreements exist and human rights are respected. This enables schemes similar to the UK’s former Rwanda policy, ruled unlawful by its Supreme Court.
“The incentive to pay a human smuggler will diminish if you know that upon arrival you will return to a centre in a third country,” Danish Immigration Minister Rasmus Stoklund, who led negotiations, told Euronews.
Safe countries of origin list
The third law creates a list of “safe countries of origin” for asylum purposes. It includes Kosovo, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Morocco, Tunisia, and all EU candidate countries except Ukraine. Nationals from these countries can still apply for asylum. Applications will follow fast-track procedures.
Leftist groups in the European Parliament and civil society criticise the measures.
“In 2018, the European Commission itself said ideas like return hubs or offshore deportation centres risked refoulement, torture or arbitrary detention,” Olivia Sundberg Diez, EU Advocate on Migration and Asylum for Amnesty International, told Euronews.
Irregular EU border crossings fell 22% in the first ten months of 2025, per Frontex. Declines occurred on routes from West Africa to the Canary Islands, the Western Balkans, and the Belarus border.
Source: Euronews
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