Monday, 17 August 2026Europe · Analysis
Independent · Brussels & Berlin
Person
European Commissioner for Migration, European Commission
Magnus Brunner says regularising 500,000 undocumented migrants sends the wrong signal, as ministers meet to contain fallout from 72,000 arrivals in the Spanish enclave.
The Pact on Migration and Asylum enters force on Friday, introducing border screenings, a revamped Eurodac database and a solidarity mechanism that has already fractured over Hungary and Slovakia's refusal to participate.
Interior ministers backed plans for offshore centres to hold rejected asylum seekers, longer detention powers and returns to third countries deemed safe, despite legal doubts from France and Spain.
The European Commission has listed Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia as safe countries of origin, aiming to speed up asylum decisions and deportations despite human rights warnings.
CDU leader's push for permanent Schengen controls and blanket entry denials would invoke emergency treaty powers despite falling asylum numbers, risking a chain reaction across European borders.
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