‘Send them home,’ chanted nationalist and far-right MEPs
MEPs gave final approval Wednesday to tougher migration rules that will grant the authorities across the EU much broader detention powers and allow for the creation of deportation centres outside the bloc.
The 418 to 218 vote in Strasbourg was one of the last hurdles for a reform that has sailed through the EU’s notoriously long legislative process as Brussels and national governments respond to political pressure to curb migration.
It was welcomed with cheers from right and far-right parliamentarians and chants of “shame on you” from the left of the assembly, underscoring deep divisions over a text severely criticised by human rights groups.
“This regulation tells everybody that it is us and not the smugglers deciding who can stay in the European Union and who must leave,” said Magnus Brunner, the EU’s commissioner for migration.
