EU May Be Waking Up FINALLY! tells member states to deport more migrants

European Union member states should be ready to detain more migrants who have no case for asylum to prevent them from running away before they are deported, the chief migration official with the bloc's executive arm in Brussels said.



The European Union is pushing to reduce immigration after some 1.6 million refugees and migrants reached its shores via the Mediterranean in 2014-2016. It wants to prevent people from coming and deport more.



"Return rates have to be improved," Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said on Thursday in presenting new, non-binding, proposals by the executive European Commission.



"Member states should also use the possibility to place migrants in detention if there is a risk of absconding and for a sufficient period to be able to complete the return and readmission procedure."



Amnesty International criticized the proposals. "Detention of irregular migrants, some of the most vulnerable people in Europe, should be a last resort," said Iverna McGowan, head of the Amnesty International's EU office.



Brussels estimates there may be around 1 million people in the EU who should be sent back but that only about a third of those with pending return are actually being returned.



While EU law sets out the minimum common standards for returns, some member states had stricter domestic rules that could be eased to streamline the process, the Commission said.



It recommended shorter appeals deadlines, issuing return decision with no expiry date, among others. It said EU states should be less coy about detaining people for the maximum allowed pre-deportation time-limit of 18 months if needed.