EU eyes migration clampdown with push on deportations, visas

AFP | London

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The European Union yesterday laid out plans to overhaul its visa system and step up deportations as part of a five-year migration strategy that cements a hardening line on the hot-button issue.

Irregular arrivals in the 27-nation bloc were down by more than a quarter in 2025, according to the EU’s border agency -- but political pressure to act remains high.

“The priority is clear: bringing illegal arrival numbers down and keeping them down,” Magnus Brunner, the EU’s commissioner for migration, said. The strategy unveiled yesterday stressed the need to boost deportations of failed asylum-seekers among the bloc’s priorities.

“Abuse gives migration a bad name -- it undermines public trust and ultimately takes away from our ability to provide protection and undercuts our drive to attract talent,” said Brunner.

The European Parliament is currently examining a legal text put forward by the European Commission allowing for socalled “return hubs” to be set up outside the EU’s borders.

Criticised by rights groups, the proposal also envisages harsher penalties for migrants who refuse to leave European territory, including longer periods of detention.