UN Human Rights chief urges EU to “carefully review” new returns policy

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has asked the European Union to carry out a “careful review” of its new returns policy, which toughens conditions for those who do not achieve asylum and also gives the ‘green light’ to member countries to send migrants to detention centers located outside the community territory.

“The creation of extraterritorial return centers with limited safeguards, the expanded use of detention, including of minors, and the weakening of protections that carry the risk of forced return, require careful review,” he indicated in a message published on social networks.

Turk has asked that the new rules approved on Monday by European Parliament and Council negotiators “respect international and EU standards on human rights.” “The reforms must genuinely reflect the EU’s commitment to fair, sustainable migration governance based on Human Rights,” he reiterated.

The new regulation establishes the obligation for asylum seekers to agree to cooperate with the authorities to expedite their expulsion in the event that they are denied asylum and also provides for detention periods for returnees of up to 24 months if they do not cooperate or the authorities see a risk of absconding, a measure that may be applied even to unaccompanied minors and families with small children.

The new rule, which will replace a directive adopted almost two decades ago, consolidates the deportation centers with which the Union seeks to outsource the return process of migrants who are denied asylum permission to third countries, following the model that Italy agreed with Albania.

For the regulation to come into force, it is still necessary for both the European Parliament and the Twenty-Seven to give their formal approval to what has been agreed in the coming months.