THE European Union has struck a landmark agreement to enable member states to strip benefits and jail migrants who refuse to leave the bloc – and even transfer to offshore holding centres outside EU territory.
The sweeping deal, struck yesterday between the EU Council and the European Parliament, marks the most significant overhaul of European deportation law since 2008 and creates a single binding rulebook that applies across all 27 member states.
Under the new Return Regulation, member states can lock up people who refuse leave orders for up to 24 months.
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Benefits including housing support and social assistance can be withdrawn as an immediate first step against those who fail to cooperate.
The most radical measure is the creation of offshore ‘return hubs’ – processing facilities established in third countries outside the EU where those awaiting deportation can be held.
However, unaccompanied minors are explicitly excluded from the offshore return hubs, but they remain subject to detention within the EU as a last resort.
The Regulation also eliminates what critics described as a chronic weakness in the existing system: the ability of individuals to move between EU countries to avoid or delay a removal order.
The new European Return Order makes any deportation decision issued by one member state automatically enforceable across the whole bloc.
For those deemed a security risk, deportation becomes mandatory rather than discretionary – with no opt-outs.
These individuals face an immediate entry ban enforceable across all member states if they try to return – not just the country that issued the original deportation order.
The scale of the problem is clear from existing data: currently 64% of Frontex-assisted returns are voluntary, meaning more than one in three people subject to a deportation order are already failing to leave without enforcement.
However, the number of irregular entries at the EU’s external borders has been falling in recent years, down by 26% in 2025 to almost 178,000.
This is less than half the total recorded in 2023 and represents the lowest level since 2021.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has previously argued the measures are a necessity, warning the bloc must act decisively to prevent a repeat of the 2015 migration crisis – when more than one million people crossed into Europe in a single year.
Spain, one of Europe’s principal migration frontlines, has been cool on the new regulations, already warning that the hubs may never materialise.
Officials in Madrid have argued that no third country will willingly take on these facilities, given the domestic backlash and international reputational damage that would follow.
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European Parliament rapporteur Malik Azmani, the Dutch Renew Europe MEP who led Parliament’s negotiating team, hailed the deal as a decisive step towards reclaiming control of Europe’s external borders.
He called it ‘a critical milestone to regain control of Europe’s borders’.
The sentiment was echoed by MEP Francois-Xavier Bellamy, from the right-wing EPP grouping in the European Parliament, who said the deal finally gives member states the tools to enforce migration rules effectively.
Amnesty International took a different view, branding it a ‘new low’ for the bloc and accusing EU leaders of capitulating to governments hostile to migration rights.
The organisation warned that offshore centres operating beyond EU jurisdiction risk serious human rights abuses with little democratic accountability – drawing explicit comparisons to Australia’s widely condemned offshore detention model.
Denmark had made the return hubs its flagship demand during its six-month Council presidency in the second half of 2025, pushing the general approach through in December.
Cyprus, which has held the rotating presidency since January 1, oversaw the final negotiations that produced Sunday’s provisional agreement.
The Regulation must still be formally adopted by both institutions before entering into force – a procedural step expected shortly after publication in the EU’s Official Journal.
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