Members of the Italian Red Cross speak to each other outside the hotspot, a reception center for migrants, in Lampedusa, Italy, Aug 15, 2025. [Photo/Agencies]
The European Union has unveiled proposed new rules to slow the influx of illegal migrants from Africa and the Middle East, in a move aimed, in part, at halting the rise of anti-immigration, far-right parties.
The rules, which EU lawmakers supported on Monday, would let member nations send migrants to "third countries" outside the bloc that are not the migrants' homelands, countering the problem of some migrants not revealing their home countries, and the challenge of some home countries refusing to accept repatriated citizens.
Currently, only around 29 percent of people who enter the EU illegally or who overstay visas leave the bloc voluntarily when asked to do so.
"With the new rules, we have more control over who can come to the EU, who can stay, and who needs to leave," said Magnus Brunner, the EU commissioner responsible for internal affairs and migration. "We will ensure that those who have no right to stay in the EU are actually returned."
