The European Parliament on Wednesday approved a law aimed at accelerating deportations and allowing countries of the European Union (EU) to set up detention centres abroad. The move comes amid rising anti-immigration sentiment across Europe while critics describe it as a cruel system that weakens safeguards for asylum seekers. The legislation will also require a final formal approval from the 27 EU member governments.
EU countries said they struggled to ensure that rejected asylum seekers and people with expired visas leave their territory. However, many believe that EU migration policy has become too focused on deterrence and deportation, disregarding root causes of migration including conflict, poverty, and political repression.
The United Nations’ Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said on Monday in the UN Human Rights Council, “The dehumanization of migrants and refugees, including in the UK, US, and many EU countries, is appalling, often leading also to the denial of their rights.”
“The European Union’s new rules on returning migrants risk expanding the use of detention, establishing offshore return hubs, and weakening safeguards ​against refoulement,” he added.
EU invites Taliban to Brussels
The European Commission had also invited Taliban officials to Brussels to discuss deportations of Afghan migrants, sparking backlash from human rights groups arguing that it could endanger Afghans and violate core EU values.
The Commission and the Swedish government are hosting the visit, reportedly scheduled for June 22 to 23, maintaining that the meeting is technical and does not constitute recognition of the Taliban administration.
Reuters news agency obtained a letter addressed to Taliban Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abdul Qaher Balkhi, which said the visit will focus on “the return and readmission of Afghan nationals without a right to stay in the European Union”.
A spokesperson for the Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said on Wednesday that Belgium had received visa applications from five members of the Taliban delegation. However, he did not confirm when the meeting would take place.
The spokesperson also informed that Prevot did not agree with the invitation.
