Production: By Europod, in co-production with Sphera Network.
EUobserver is proud to have an editorial partnership with Europod to co-publish the podcast series “Briefed” hosted by Léa Marchal. The podcast is available on all major platforms.
Find the full transcript below:
It will soon become easier to detain and deport irregular migrants.
That is the spirit of the future European Return Regulation, which is being negotiated.
How far is the EU willing to go to deport irregular migrants?
When a person staying irregularly in a country receives an order to leave the territory, they can either leave voluntarily or, if they refuse, they can be forcibly removed.
But in practice, this is often difficult to enforce. Across the EU, only about one in five irregular migrants who receive a return order actually leave.
In Germany and Sweden, the rate is higher: around half of return orders are effectively enforced. But in France or Italy, the rate is particularly low.
So last year, the European Commission proposed an overhaul of the rules in order to systematise returns.
It suggested faster procedures to deport the people concerned, and notably introduced so-called return hubs.
After a year of negotiations, the co-legislators are about to strike a deal on the text.
So what does it actually include? Does it match the Commission’s original proposal?
The member states and the MEPs want to go even further than the initial proposal. And for good reason: both agree on the need for stricter return procedures.
A bit of political context here: since last year in the European Parliament, more and more legislation has been passed thanks to a right–far right majority. MEPs from the EPP, the main centre-right group, now rarely build coalitions with centrists and the left, and increasingly vote alongside the far right.
That was also the case for the Return Regulation.
So what exactly does the potential compromise entail?
It starts with the possibility for authorities to carry out searches on undocumented migrants, conduct home raids, and take fingerprints — by force if necessary.
In other words, the use of force becomes legitimised as soon as a person is subject to a return order.
Another major change: appeals lodged by migrants will no longer automatically suspend deportation procedures. So if a migrant challenges a return decision, they may still be forced to leave before a ruling is issued.
The deadlines for voluntary departure are also expected to be shortened. Currently, a person ordered to leave the territory has between seven and 30 days to do so voluntarily. Under the future regulation, this could be reduced to just a few hours. Authorities would therefore be able to carry out forced returns almost immediately.
And finally, there is the introduction of the famous return hubs outside EU borders, located in partner countries. These are semi-closed or closed centres where people awaiting deportation could be sent while authorities wait for their countries of origin to accept their return.
These types of centres have already drawn significant attention.
Two of them have already been built by Italy in Albania, with the Albanian government’s agreement.
But barely had the centres become operational when a court in Rome invalidated one detention order.
So why is the EU pursuing a legally controversial path?
Because reducing migration flows has become such a central political objective for most European leaders that the method itself matters less and less.
The 50 members of the Council of Europe made that very clear last week.
Following an initiative launched by the Italian and Danish prime ministers, all Council of Europe members have now signed a declaration seeking to reshape conventional standards on migrants’ rights.
One concrete example: they argue that judges at the European Court of Human Rights should take into account a certain “margin of severity” when assessing ill-treatment inflicted on foreign nationals.
Because, for many European governments, the priority is above all to enforce deportation decisions — and not burden themselves with, quote, “unnecessary constraints,” such as humane treatment.
As a result, despite serious concerns over human rights protections, the Return Regulation is expected to pass without much difficulty.
If you are interested in migration issues, you can also listen to the episode of Briefed published on the 9th of March about the concept of safe countries of origin.
