BRUSSELS, Belgium: The EU reached a deal Monday on a new tightening of migration rules allowing for so-called “return hubs” to be set up outside the bloc, as countries seek to boost deportations.
European lawmakers and countries struck a provisional compromise on the reform, which was launched in response to political pressure to curb migration — paving the way for its final approval.
“The new regulation will speed up the return process and increase returns of persons who have no legal right to stay in the EU,” said Nicholas Ioannides, deputy migration minister of Cyprus, which holds the European Union’s rotating presidency.
“Today’s landmark agreement strengthens the credibility of the EU’s migration policy.”
Criticized by rights groups, the new measures will notably allow nations to open centers outside the EU’s borders to which migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected could be sent.
