EU Parliament approves ‘strictest-ever’ migration law: Key changes explained

The European Parliament has taken a significant step toward implementing a new EU law allowing deportation centers outside the bloc, as mainstream conservatives aligned with the far-right to pass the legislation.

The primary motive behind the newly approved law is to accelerate the return of migrants with no legal right to remain in the European Union.

Notably, this marks one of the hardline shifts in migration policy in decades. The recent amendment is highly debatable, as it would allow EU countries to set up deportation centers outside the bloc, commonly known as return hubs.

Following the result, supporters of the bill praised, while some MEPs on the right of the chamber protested fiercely. 

It has been observed that the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) reconciled with the right-wing European Conservatives and the far-right Patriots for Europe (PfE) and Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) to pass the law.

The EPP sees its votes as pivotal for migration legislation, marking an alternative majority to the conventional pro-European centrist coalition. 

Anna Catarina Mendes, vice-president of Socialists and Democrats group said: “This regulation risks normalizing questionable practices that would have been unthinkable in the EU only a few years ago.”

The new rules extend the maximum legal detention period for illegal migrants awaiting deportation from six months to two years.

Subsequently, the law now allows for a maximum six-month extension period, and toughest handling of individuals presenting a security threat.

The actual deportations are temporarily restricted while legal challenges are pending. It is pertinent to mention here that new law would end that automatic safeguard, leaving courts to determine whether a return order should be suspended.