EU close to common rules on illegal immigrants[fr][de] 

'Voluntary' departures and more forceful returns 

The latest version of the Returns Directive provides for a period of "voluntary departure" between seven days and thirty days. If the illegal immigrant does not leave voluntarily and return to his home country within this period, the national authorities can issue a "removal order". Such removal orders include a re-entry ban of a maximum of five years. "Coercive measures" to carry out the repatriation (usually by air) of illegal immigrants who resist removal are envisaged only as "a last resort" and should "not exceed reasonable force". 

'Return' is understood as sending back illegal immigrants not only to their own country but also transit countries from whence they came, or to any other country to which the immigrant agrees to return and which accepts him/her. 

Detention possibilities 

When there are serious grounds to believe that the illegal immigrants may hide, EU states have agreed upon a procedure to keep them under detention. Each member country shall set a limited period of detention, which may not exceed six months. These detentions are carried out as a rule in specialised facilities and not in prison. When a member country cannot provide such accommodation and has to resort to prison facilities, the detainees should be separated from ordinary prisoners.

Unaccompanied minors and families with minors shall only be detained as a measure of last resort and for the shortest time possible. 

Socialists still undecided 

Although the leader of the Party of European Socialists (PES) Martin Schultz issued a declaration welcoming the compromise package, individual PES members introduced ten amendments to some of its provisions. These include the reduction of the maximum detention period and the extension of delays for voluntary departure. If any of these obtain a majority in plenary, the co-decision procedure would delay the adoption of the directive by a year or more. 

Among the amendments proposed by the Socialists are the extension of the period of voluntary departure, the introduction of clearer criteria for determining the "risk of absconding" and therefore avoiding unnecessary detentions, a more careful approach when dealing with children, less strict requirements to trigger a re-entry ban of a maximum of five years, easier access to legal aid and more legal safeguards in case of detention. 

"We want Europe to adopt common standards for the return of illegal immigrants to their country of origin, but the conditions for this return must be implemented with dignity while scrupulously upholding people’s rights...That's why the Socialist Group has tabled amendments," declared Italian MEP Claudio Fava, Socialist spokesperson on Justice and Home Affairs. 

The latest compromise also attracted criticism from the Greens, who called it "unacceptable". "We will not support widescale entry bans, return to countries of transit and lengthy detention periods. These are abuses of human dignity and human rights that we consistently oppose in our member states and do not want to see entrenched at the EU level," they stated. 

But French EPP-ED Patrick Gaubert urged the Parliament not to listen to the "ideological and unreasoned" campaign of NGOs and left MEPs, accusing them of a "dishonest manipulation of the compromise". "Europe has rightly decided to take its responsibilities and refuse to leave these often vulnerable people in a legal vacuum and with no procedural protection," he said.

But the European Association for the Defence of Human Rights insisted that the detention of men, women and children for up to 18 months simply for 'illegally staying' is unacceptable. They are also against associate removal orders with an entry ban of up to five years, which they believe creates a double penalty with no real recourse for lifting the ban. 

They strongly criticised allowing the detention of minors under the guise of family unity, allowing the expulsion of unaccompanied minors, not providing for any evaluation of the risks faced by third-country nationals who return to their country of origin or to a country of transit, where their lives may be endangered or where they may be imprisoned for being illegal migrants. 

The International Federation for Human Rights issued an appeal, asking the MEPs to amend the Return Directive is several respects. They also criticised the exclusion from the protective guarantees of the directive of third-country nationals arrested till seven days after their entry on European territory and the weakening of the possibilities of voluntary return, the only real alternative to forced expulsion. 

Amnesty International called the proposed directive "unacceptable as an EU standard" and appealed on MEPs to reject it. "Detention should only be used in very exceptional cases, always for the shortest possible time and must not be prolonged or indefinite. Standards for returns are needed, but we do not they should be at all costs. The directive must include safeguards that ensure that the return of irregular migrants is carried out in a way that respects their fundamental rights," Amnesty stated.