The European Union on Wednesday, 17 June, took a major step towards addressing the issue of mass and illegal migration by approving the new Return Regulation, hailed by supporters as the toughest deportation framework in the bloc’s history to date.
With 418 votes in favour, 218 against, and 30 abstentions, the right-wing majority in the European Parliament succeeded in pushing through the legislation, which forms part of the EU Migration and Asylum Pact and strengthens member states’ powers to deport illegal migrants and rejected asylum seekers. The framework introduces detention periods of up to 24 months, limits appeal-based delays to deportations, expands entry bans, increases penalties for non-cooperation, and formally authorizes the establishment of return hubs outside the EU.
The legislation passed thanks to a grand coalition of the European People’s Party (EPP), Patriots for Europe (PfE), the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), and the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) groups. The far-left The Left, the Greens, the Socialists & Democrats (S&D), and parts of the liberal-progressive Renew group voted against the legislation and reacted furiously to the result.
Video footage of the moments following the vote quickly went viral on social media as members of right-wing groups broke into celebration, welcoming the stricter deportation rules. Accompanied by thunderous applause, they began chanting ‘send them back’, referring to illegal migrants.
The scenes were received overwhelmingly positively in conservative, sovereigntist, and right-wing circles, and equally negatively among progressives. Speaking in Parliament, Renew MEP Abir Al-Sahlani said that she had ‘never felt as unsafe in this Parliament as after the voting on the Return Regulation’. ‘I think this is a disgrace,’ she added. Her colleague, MEP Lukas Sieper, echoed a similar sentiment, stating that he believed the ‘European Parliament is better than that’.
‘I believe that it was not in keeping with the dignity of this House, especially the chanting of racially charged slogans,’ Greens MEP Terry Reintke said after the vote.
In a post on X, S&D compared the approved legislation to ‘introducing an ICE-style deportation model’. ‘“Send them back” is not a migration policy,’ the statement continued, ‘it is a slogan of fear that paves the way for a much darker future.’
‘Xenophobia and racism should have no place in Europe, and we will keep fighting for an EU that defends fundamental rights, the rule of law, and the dignity of every person,’ it concluded.
While right-wing groups celebrated the result of the vote, MEPs from The Left stood up with one fist raised in the air, expressing their condemnation of and resistance to the legislation. ‘The era of resistance begins,’ they wrote while sharing footage of the moment on X. ‘This is a shame for Europe. They are ushering in a period of fear, exclusion, raids, and deportation.’
The right-wing groups that backed the legislation hailed the result as a watershed moment in European migration policy. PfE described the regulation as a step towards ‘taking back control over returns’, arguing that it restores national sovereignty, opens the door to return hubs outside the EU, and puts an end to what it called endless legal delays. The ECR likewise welcomed the vote, calling it the beginning of an ‘era of returns’ and a major step towards restoring the credibility of Europe’s migration system.
Within the EPP, supporters argued that the legislation finally gives member states the tools needed to enforce return decisions and address the long-standing gap between deportation orders and actual removals. The ESN Group also celebrated the outcome, joining the broader right-wing camp in portraying the vote as evidence that the European Parliament is moving towards a tougher and more restrictive approach to illegal migration.
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