'Era of deportations has begun': EU approves 'return hubs' with help from far right

(CN) — With backing from the far right, European Union institutions have agreed to allow migrant "return hubs" to be set up outside the bloc and give police broader powers to enter homes in search of people to deport.

In closed-door talks, EU lawmakers, bureaucrats and diplomats announced late Monday they reached a deal to streamline deportations of migrants staying in the bloc without permission.

The deal effectively gives Brussels' stamp of approval to far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's controversial efforts to send migrants to camps in Albania. Italian judges have repeatedly called the scheme into question, but last month the EU's top court signaled it would allow the plan to go ahead.

Following her example, other EU countries are scouting the world for places to send people they want to kick out of the bloc. Kenya, Rwanda, Uzbekistan, Tunisia and Montenegro are among the destinations under consideration, according to news reports.

Monday's announcement reflected a major shift taking place in EU politics where mainstream conservatives — represented in Brussels by the European People's Party — have begun to collaborate with far-right forces to draft legislation. They also teamed up last year to water down the EU's Green Deal climate change rules.

This collaboration is highly controversial because it shows how Europe's long-held "firewall" against working with extremist forces is breaking down with the rise of far-right parties. Their growth has been fueled by widespread anger at immigration, especially of people from Muslim countries.

Parties on the center left and left, including social democrats and greens, blasted Monday's deal as inhumane and "xenophobic." Critics warned Europe was giving the green light to immigration raids and a system of migrant detention centers.

Monday's deal adds more teeth to a broader migration pact coming into force on June 12. In August 2024, the EU approved rules to tighten borders against migrants and spread the burden of handling asylum claims across the bloc.

"The era of deportations has begun," said Charlie Weimers, a European Parliament member with the far-right Sweden Democrats, in praising the deal. He took part in the negotiations and worked to toughen the law.

"We now have longer detention, real entry bans, and return hubs in third countries," he said on social media. "If you try to enter Europe illegally — you will never make Europe your home."

Mélissa Camara, a European Parliament member from France with the Greens, called the law "xenophobic" and a "shameful" cooperation between right-wing forces.

"This future text puts xenophobic ideas and rhetoric into writing at the expense of the fundamental rights of migrants whose only mistake was to be born with the wrong passport," Camara said in a statement.

She worried the law "endorses ICE practices" by allowing authorities to conduct home raids, a reference to the sweeping operations carried out by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under President Donald Trump.

The deal for the proposed law — called the "Return Regulation" — was reached during secretive "trialogue" talks, a process where negotiators from the European Parliament, the European Council and the European Commission hammer out legislation. The council represents national governments, the commission is the EU's executive bureaucracy and the Parliament is made up of elected politicians.

The proposed law's text was not immediately made public, though its content was spelled out in a draft issued by the European Commission in March 2025. The law still needed final approval from the European Council and European Parliament, but that was mostly guaranteed.

The Return Regulation enables "faster and more effective EU-wide procedures for the return of persons illegally staying in member states," the European Council said in a statement.

Under the rule, "return hubs" outside the EU would need to ensure "fundamental rights" are respected and they could only be set up in countries that uphold human rights, the officials added.

Such hubs could "serve either as the final destination or as transfer centers" for people getting sent back to home countries or places they had ties to. Minors not accompanied by a parent or guardian would not be sent to return hubs, but families with children could be.

The law also would give police the power to search premises, including homes, and seize personal belongings during investigations into people staying in the EU without permission.

Furthermore, the regulation would allow people deemed a "security risk" to be banned from the EU for good and to be imprisoned. For people not labeled a security risk, entry bans would rise in most cases from five to 10 years.

Another change would see people facing expulsion no longer automatically getting deportation orders suspended. Instead, courts would need to look at individual cases to determine if a return order should be blocked.

About 29% of migrants with no legal right to remain in Europe leave the EU; this statistic was cited as a major reason to toughen deportation measures.

"This is a really very important step in making sure that we have control over what is happening in the EU, over who comes but also who has to leave the EU," said Magnus Brunner, the EU's home affairs commissioner, upon announcing the deal.

Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.