Brussels– European lawmakers voted on Thursday to make it easier to set up new migrant detention centers outside the EU, known as “return hubs.”
Members of the European Parliament voted 389–206 in favor, with 32 abstentions. Right-wing parties formed a coalition with far-right groups that they had previously rejected to allow the bill to pass, while left-wing and center-right parties voted against it.
Any EU country can now, on its own or in small coalitions, negotiate to deport migrants not to their home countries but to yet-to-be-built facilities outside the 27-nation bloc.
Already, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Denmark have negotiated with governments, mainly in Africa, to host sites to hold migrants denied asylum.
Far-right parties in Europe have praised US President Donald Trump’s deportation policies and called on the European Union to adopt a similar approach.
Belgium’s far-right Vlaams Belang party and Germany’s far-right AfD party both said in January they wanted to create a police group focused on finding and deporting migrants, similar to US efforts.
However, human rights groups say migrants are being brutalized at EU borders and pushed back illegally, while legal protections are increasingly being hollowed out.
