EuroMed Rights, together with its members and partners, ARCI, CCFD-Terre Solidaire, CNCD-11.11.11, Foundation for the Promotion of Rights (Algeria), the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), KISA, La Cimade, LDH France, and Migreurop, publish two infosheets on the EU proposal for a regulation that will revise the EU return system (so-called Return Regulation), replacing the 2008 Return Directive, highlighting its adverse impact and risks of human rights violations.
The publication follows the revision of the “safe third country” concept, proposed by the European Commission on May 20, as well as the proposed establishment of a European list of “safe countries of origin.” Both concepts are closely interlinked policy developments that, with the amended EU return framework, collectively reshape the EU’s asylum and return architecture.
On the one hand, nationals from countries designated as “safe” are subject to fast-tracked asylum procedures, often at border or transit zones, that lead to limited procedural safeguards and impose a higher burden of proof on applicants to rebut the presumption of safety. In such a context, many may receive a return order without having undergone a full and fair individual assessment of their protection needs.
On the other hand, applicants whose cases are deemed inadmissible under the application of the “safe third country” concept are excluded from an asylum determination in the EU and may be returned to that “safe” third country. The new proposal broadens the way in which the “safe third country” concept can be applied: (1) A connection between the applicant and the safe third county is no longer mandatory, as Member States are allowed to decide whether to require connection or not; (2) where national law does require a connection, mere transit through the third country may be considered sufficient; (3) when there is no connection or transit, the concept can be applied if there is an agreement or arrangement with a third country, obliging third countries to assess protection and asylum claims.
Together, these measures increase the likelihood that individuals will be fast-tracked through the system and deported without meaningful access to protection procedures, raising serious concerns under international law.
The infosheet titled “The Revised EU Return Process: What’s new and key risks” includes a concise analysis of the key novelties and risks contained in the Return Regulation, including the choice of instrument, the focus on forced removals, the broadened concept of “country of return” and increased detention and weakened safeguards, among others.
The infosheet titled “The Revised EU Return Process: What Happens After a Return Order” simulates the actual impact that the measures included in the proposal would have on asylum seekers, migrants and refugees. It outlines the steps and different scenarios to which a migrant person is confronted after a return order is issued. Many migrants reach this stage due to inadmissible or fast-tracked asylum requests, often before their protection needs are fully assessed. It presents the human rights risks and violations that this proposal would entail.
The infosheet “The Revised EU Return Process: What’s new and key risks” is available in Arabic, English and French.
The infosheet “The Revised EU Return Process: What Happens After a Return Order” is available in Arabic, English and French