BRUSSELS: EU countries on Monday backed a significant tightening of Europe’s immigration policy, including endorsing the concept of setting up “return hubs” outside the 27-nation bloc for failed asylum-seekers.

Interior ministers meeting in Brussels greenlighted a package of measures, as European governments are under pressure to take a tougher stance amid a souring of public opinion on migration that has fuelled far-right gains at the ballot box.

Put forward by the European Commission earlier this year, the changes, which need to be approved by the European Parliament before coming into force, would notably allow the opening of centres outside the European Union’s borders to which migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected would be sent — the so-called “return hubs”; harsher penalties for migrants who refuse to leave European territory, including through longer periods of detention; and returning migrants to countries that are not their countries of origin, but which Europe considers “safe”.

A decline in irregular entries to Europe has not eased the pressure to act on the hot-button issue.

European leaders face pressure to toughen migration policies as public mood shifts

“We have to speed up,” said EU migration commissioner Magnus Brunner, “to give the people the feeling that we have control over what is happening”.

The new initiatives have caused consternation among activists working with migrants. “Instead of investing in safety, protection, and inclusion, the EU is choosing policies that will push more people into danger and legal limbo,” said Silvia Carta of PICUM, an NGO that helps undocumented migrants. But under the impetus of Denmark, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency and has long advocated for stricter migration rules, member states are moving forward at a rapid pace.

An EU diplomat told AFP that there was “a widely shared political wish” among leaders in the bloc to press ahead with these additional steps. “We’ve been moving forward very quickly,” the diplomat said, speaking as others on condition of anonymity.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2025