Green light for repatriation rules: the way is now clear for non-EU hubs

Today, the Home Affairs Council in Luxembourg gave its final approval to the new rules that will enable more “effective” returns for people who do not have the right to reside in the European Union. The Return Regulation will therefore soon become EU law, following its publication in the Official Journal. The new rules set out procedures applicable throughout the Union for the return of those who do not have the right to remain, with stricter rules for the return of individuals who pose a threat to security.

For example, Member States will be able to impose an indefinite entry ban where this is justified and proportionate to the security risk posed by the individual, or detain such third-country nationals for a period exceeding 24 months. The law provides Member States with additional tools to carry out returns. Persons who do not have the right to reside in the EU and who have been issued with a return decision may also be sent to return centres (return hubs) in third countries, provided that an agreement has been concluded or an arrangement has been reached with the relevant non-EU country. Such agreements or arrangements may only be concluded with a non-EU country that complies with international human rights standards and the principles of international law, including the principle of non-refoulement (non-refoulement).

All measures relating to repatriation “must be implemented in full respect of fundamental rights”, the Council states. According to Jim O’Callaghan, Ireland’s Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, “around two in three people who are served with an order to leave the EU do not, in fact, leave.” The revised rules on returns, adopted today, will help Member States to carry out swift and effective returns. This is essential to ensure a common approach to migration management under the Pact on Migration and Asylum’. Unaccompanied minors are excluded from such agreements or arrangements.

The regulation will now be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force on the following day. Certain provisions, such as those relating to return centres, will apply immediately. The other provisions, which require preparatory work, will apply one year after the regulation enters into force.

Gianni Berrino, a senator for Fratelli d’Italia and a member of the Senate Justice Committee, has welcomed the EU Council’s approval of the new rules on repatriation. ‘This is an important achievement that reinforces the approach pursued by the Meloni Government to tackle irregular immigration and finally ensure that return procedures are effective. The new rules,” says Gianni Berrino, “will allow Member States to use more effective tools and also open up the possibility of establishing return centres in non-EU countries. It is a concrete turning point, after years of inaction. The Meloni Government deserves credit for bringing back to the forefront of the European agenda the principle that those who have no right to remain must be repatriated. And whilst Europe is changing tack, the Italian left remains silent. Now let us move forward, without hesitation, with greater security, greater border control and a repatriation policy that is finally effective.”