‘Send Them Back’: EU Parliament Passes Major Deportation Reforms, Including Third Country Return Hubs

( Breitbart )

The European Parliament passed legislation on Wednesday that is set to transform the way the bloc handles deportations, including by establishing return hubs in third-party countries outside the EU.

To the chants of “send them back”, Conservatives and populists joined forces in Strasbourg this week to finally pass a new “European Regulation on Returns”, which will update previous rules written in 2008, years before the first major European Migrant Crisis in 2014. The successful vote not only demonstrated that the disparate factions on the right can work together — something that is often prevented at the national level — but also showed the extent to which the Overton Window has shifted on immigration in just a few years.

With what appears to be a stable majority on the issue, with the centrist European People’s Party (EPP), the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), the Patriots of Europe (PfE), and the Europe of Sovereign Nations Group (ESN), the motion passed through the EU Parliament on Wednesday by a margin of 418 in favour, 218 against, and 30 abstentions.

Perhaps most critically, the new regulations will allow EU member states to sign agreements with nations outside of the bloc to establish return hubs for migrants, so that illegals no longer have to be kept within the borders of the country they broke into.

This policy was first put forward by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government in Rome, which had partnered with the non-EU nation of Albania to create exactly such return hubs.

However, Meloni’s plan was stymied by judicial activism within Italy and at the EU level, so Wednesday’s vote represents a major victory for her government, which has spent considerable time and political capital in advocating for stricter migration rules behind the scenes at the EU level.

Responding to the new regulations, Meloni said: “We promised Italians we would change Europe, and we did it, with courage, patience, and determination. Because our compass is clear: to respect the program voted for by the citizens, point by point. We will not stop, and we will continue like this.”

Remarking on the return hub scheme, she added: “This innovative solution has been resisted at every turn by the Italian and European left, but thanks to this government, it has now become a tool available to the whole of Europe.”

In addition to paving the way for return hubs, the pending regulations will fundamentally change how deportations are handled, imposing an obligation to comply on individual migrants. Those who fail to abide by court orders may face up to two years in detention, up from six months. Those who continue to refuse to comply also face the prospect of a lifetime ban from the EU and expedited removal.

Meanwhile, countries that refuse to take their nationals back will face the prospect of having their aid frozen, visas suspended, and trade sanctions imposed, in a move pioneered by the Trump administration in the United States.

MEP Marieke Ehlers of the anti-mass migration Patriots of Europe group in the EU Parliament said: “This regulation puts the obligation exactly where it belongs: on the illegal migrant… The days of pampering are over. You have no right to stay, which means you have one simple obligation: pack your bags and leave our territory.”

“We are taking back control,” she continued. “This agreement reinforces the sovereignty of national governments. Almost all provisions give Member States the freedom to go further. We are handing power back to our capitals. This regulation is not perfect, and on its own it is no silver bullet, but it is a decisive step in the right direction.”

However, while the new regulations will give member states greater authority and ability to remove illegals, it will be up to those in power at the national level to take advantage of such powers. Indeed, some have raised concerns over whether pro-migration governments like Emmanuel Macron’s in France will use the powers now available to them.

French MEP and the negotiator for the EPP group, François-Xavier Bellamy, described the new regulations as a “turning point”, saying that “after decades of failure and years of deadlock, Europe is ending its powerlessness in the face of illegal immigration.”

“No one can claim any longer that Europe has no tools to act. The rules are now in place. The responsibility lies with governments to use them.”