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European Union justice and home affairs ministers have approved a new set of measures aimed at tightening migration rules, expediting deportations, and enabling asylum applications to be processed outside EU borders.
The decisions, taken under the rotating presidency of Denmark, include authorization for EU states to establish "return centers" in third countries where rejected asylum-seekers and irregular migrants can be sent and held until deportation.
As the EU widens its list of “safe” countries, asylum claims from their nationals are now fast-tracked.
The list includes: Bangladesh, Morocco, India, Colombia, Kosovo, Egypt, Tunisia, and all EU accession candidates, including Türkiye.
Under EU rules, candidate countries are automatically considered safe unless they are facing armed conflict, severe restrictions on fundamental rights, or unusually high asylum approval rates in Europe. As an EU candidate country and a listed “safe third country,” Türkiye’s asylum-seekers face faster and more frequent negative decisions from EU members.
The new rules also strengthen the EU’s ability to return migrants to Türkiye under existing agreements.
The package requires final approval by the European Parliament before implementation.
According to the EU Asylum Agency (EUAA), only 17% of asylum applications from Türkiye were approved in 2024.
EU member states also backed a proposal to allow asylum applications to be processed in third countries that have agreements with the bloc.
Applicants could be evaluated entirely outside the bloc, with asylum claims rejected immediately if the person could have sought protection in a country considered “safe” by the EU.
This follows previous attempts, such as Italy’s agreement with Albania, which faced legal objections in both Italian and European courts.
Denmark’s Migration Minister Rasmus Stoklund said the changes will allow Europe to "reject people who do not have the right to asylum" and create mechanisms to return them more quickly.
Stoklund said the newly agreed legal framework enables EU states to create “admission centers and other solutions” in partner countries.
New EU-wide return regulations will allow:
Stoklund noted that three out of four migrants ordered to leave the EU currently remain within the bloc.
International rights groups sharply criticized the new measures.
Amnesty International’s Olivia Sundberg Diez called the return centers “cruel” and described the policies as “dehumanizing,” arguing they mirror U.S. practices and risk violating international protection laws.
She warned that the measures will increase “legal limbo,” lead to prolonged detention in countries where migrants have no connections, and undermine international protection standards.
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EU countries also agreed on their 2026 “solidarity pool,” where states may choose to:
Countries refusing relocations will pay €20,000 per migrant they decline to accept.
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