Move, criticised by rights groups, set to allow EU govts to process asylum applications filed by citizens more quickly
\n Maastricht
\nThe European Union on Wednesday published a list of seven countries it considers \u201csafe\u201d, in a bid to speed up migrant returns by making it harder for citizens of those nations to claim asylum in the bloc. The European Commission said it was proposing to designate Kosovo, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Morocco and Tunisia as \u201csafe countries of origin\u201d.
\nThe move, criticised by rights groups, is set to allow EU governments to process asylum applications filed by citizens of those countries more quickly \u2014 by introducing a presumption that such claims lack merit.
\n\u201cMany member states are facing a significant backlog of asylum applications, so anything we can do now to support faster asylum decisions is essential,\u201d said Magnus Brunner, the EU\u2019s commissioner for migration.
\nBrussels has been under pressure to clamp down on irregular arrivals and facilitate deportations, following a souring of public opinion on migration that has fuelled hard-right electoral gains in several countries.
\nOn Wednesday, the commission said EU candidate nations would also, in principle, meet the criteria to be designated as safe countries.
\nBut it also laid out exceptions, including when they are hit by a conflict \u2014 something that would, for example, exclude Ukraine.
\nThe EU had already presented a similar list in 2015, but the plan was abandoned due to heated debates over whether or not to include Turkey, another candidate for membership.
\nThe list published Wednesday can be expanded or reviewed over time and was drawn up looking at nations from which a significant number of applicants currently come, the commission said.
\nSeveral member states already designate countries they deem \u201csafe\u201d for asylum \u2014 France\u2019s list, for instance, includes Mongolia, Serbia and Cape Verde.
\nThe EU effort aims to harmonise rules and ensure that all members have the same baseline.
\nStates can individually add countries to the EU list, but not subtract from it.
\nAsylum cases will still have to be examined individually, ensuring that existing safeguards remain in place and asylum-seekers are not rejected outright, the commission added.
\nThe plan has to be approved by the European Parliament and member states before it can enter into force.
\nBut it has already come under fire from human rights groups.
\nEuroMed Rights, an umbrella group, said some of the countries featured in the EU list suffered from \u201cdocumented rights abuses and limited protections for both their own citizens and migrants\u201d.
\n\u201cLabelling them \u2018safe\u2019 is misleading \u2014 & dangerous\u201d, it wrote on X.
\nIrregular border crossings detected into the European Union were down 38% to 239,000 last year after an almost 10-year peak in 2023, according to the EU border agency Frontex.
\nBut led by hawks including Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands, EU leaders called in October for urgent new legislation to increase and speed up returns and for the commission to assess \u201cinnovative\u201d ways to counter irregular migration.
\nCurrently, less than 20% of people ordered to leave the bloc are returned to their country of origin, according to EU data.
\nLast month, the commission unveiled a planned reform of the 27-nation bloc\u2019s return system, which opened the way for member states to set up migrant return centres outside the EU.
\nItaly\u2019s interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi Wednesday hailed the EU\u2019s latest move as \u201ca success for the Italian government\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Move, criticised by rights groups, set to allow EU govts to process asylum applications filed by citizens more quickly Maastricht The European Union on Wednesday published a list of seven countries it considers \u201csafe\u201d, in a bid to speed up migrant returns by making it harder for citizens of those nations to claim asylum in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472981,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-472971","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n