The European Union is expanding its powers to track, raid and deport migrants to ”\u00a0return hubs\u00a0\u2033 in third countries in Africa and elsewhere, quietly adopting tactics of the Trump administration that have drawn public criticism across the 27-nation bloc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The EU continues to tighten migration policies after right-wing parties took power in some countries in 2024. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, from the center-right European People\u2019s Party coalition, has said that the new measures will prevent a repeat of the 2015 crisis caused by Syria\u2019s civil war, when about 1 million people arrived to seek asylum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have learnt the lessons of the past. And today, we are better equipped,\u201d von der Leyen has said. The\u00a0new policies, known as the Pact on Migration and Asylum, go into effect on June 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Far-right parties in Europe have praised the\u00a0deportation policies\u00a0of U.S. President Donald Trump and called for the EU to adopt a similar approach. Human rights groups warn that authorities are already illegally pushing back migrants at EU borders and hollowing out their legal protections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The EU already spends millions of dollars\u00a0to deter migrants before they reach its shores, and has supported\u00a0tens of thousands of Africans returning home, voluntarily or by force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s envisioned now is an expansion of what Italy has created under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her \u201ctough on migration\u201d stance. It operates two migrant detention centers for rejected asylum-seekers in Albania. One currently holds at least 90 migrants, said lawmaker Rachele Scarpa, who said that she found people confused and scared during a recent visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, Meloni\u2019s Cabinet has approved an anti-immigration package that would allow the navy to halt vessels in international waters for up to six months if they are deemed a threat to public order; return intercepted migrants to countries of origin or third countries; and speed up the deportation of foreign nationals convicted of crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An \u201cinformal group\u201d of EU nations including Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark and Greece are pursuing deportation center agreements, said Bernd Parusel, a researcher at the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kenya is one country they are speaking with, said Tineke Strik, a Dutch member of the European Parliament. Whether consciously or not, the plan is similar to\u00a0Trump\u2019s deals with nations like El Salvador\u00a0to take in deported migrants, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other countries are exploring similar ideas. Sweden\u2019s migration minister has said the conservative ruling coalition approves\u00a0setting up hubs outside Europe,\u00a0especially for Afghan and Syrian asylum-seekers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the Winter Olympics in Italy,\u00a0protests erupted\u00a0over the deployment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to provide security to the U.S. delegation. But others in Europe have praised ICE\u2019s actions and called for setting up deportation-focused police units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2024, Belgium passed a law allowing the EU border service Frontex operations inside the country, stoking fears among activists that Frontex could join in on raids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Frontex\u2019s mandate just covers borders, said spokesperson Chris Borowski, and the current role in voluntary or involuntary returns for the service includes \u201ccoordinating flights, helping with travel documents and making sure fundamental rights are respected throughout the process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The European Commission has declined requests to take a position on U.S. federal immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Britain, which left the EU several years ago, the center-left Labour Party government has made curbing unauthorized immigration a key focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In February, the Home Office said that almost 60,000 people had been deported since the government was elected in July 2024. It said 9,000 arrests were made of people working without permission in 2025, up by more than half from the year before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the principle of non-refoulement in EU and international law, a person can\u2019t be returned to a country where they would face persecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But European immigration enforcement tactics include so-called pushbacks, where people trying to cross into the EU are forced back across a border without access to asylum procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authorities in Europe carry out an average of 221 pushbacks a day, according to a February report by a group of humanitarian organizations. More than 80,000 pushbacks were recorded in 2025, the report said, mostly in Italy, Poland, Bulgaria and Latvia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMen, women and children \u2014 including individuals in critical medical condition \u2014 are routinely subjected to beatings, attacks by police dogs, forced stripping, forced river crossings and theft of personal belongings,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
European agents are brutalizing migrants just like in the U.S., said Flor Didden, migration policy expert at the Belgian human rights group 11.11.11. Some, like in Greece, even wear masks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe images are shocking and the outrage is justified,\u201d he said of the U.S. \u201cBut where is that same moral clarity when European border authorities abuse, rob and let people die?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The groups also have recorded an expansion of surveillance technology like drones, thermal cameras and satellites to monitor people on the move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other human rights groups warn of a weakening of legal protections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The EU\u2019s new migration regulations allow for more police raids in private homes and public spaces and more use of surveillance and racial profiling, said a letter to EU institutions in February from 88 nonprofit groups including the Brussels-based Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe cannot be outraged by ICE in the United States while also supporting these practices in Europe,\u201d said the platform\u2019s director, Michele LeVoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Olivia Sundberg Diez, EU migration advocate for Amnesty International, said Europe retains more protections for vulnerable migrants than the United States but shares much of the political momentum toward harsher policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a level of institutions\u2019 and courts\u2019 independence and human rights compliance in Europe that you can\u2019t disregard,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the fundamental political impulse is the same, and I worry that the human consequences will be the same.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The European Union is expanding its powers to track, raid and deport migrants to ”\u00a0return hubs\u00a0\u2033 in third countries in Africa and elsewhere, quietly adopting tactics of the Trump administration that have drawn public criticism across the 27-nation bloc. The EU continues to tighten migration policies after right-wing parties took power in some countries in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,275,259],"tags":[7,276,260],"class_list":{"0":"post-41170","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"category-immigration","9":"category-legal","10":"tag-apie-project","11":"tag-immigration","12":"tag-legal"},"yoast_head":"\n