EU names 7 ‘safe’ countries for deporting migrants

The European Union now considers seven countries to be safe for migrants to return to and will accelerate the asylum application process for those countries’ nationals, an EU official said Wednesday.

This likely means asylum applications will not be approved from those countries now that the EU has designated Kosovo, Colombia, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Bangladesh and India as “safe.”

“Many Member States are facing a significant backlog of asylum applications, so anything we can do now to support faster asylum decisions is essential,” said Magnus Brunner, the European Commissioner for migration.

“The Pact provisions on recognition rates and applying the safe country of origin concept can help Member States deal with claims more quickly, whilst always ensuring that every asylum claim still receives an individual assessment and is subject to the scrutiny of national courts.”

The move comes after EU capitals, led by Poland, urged the Commission in 2024 to draw up new guidelines on migration to facilitate deportations amid growing political pressure from right-wing and far-right parties.

The determination to designate the seven countries as safe was made on the basis of reports by the EU’s foreign affairs branch, EU staff located in those countries, civil society organizations and media reports, plus other sources of information, the official added.

The official added that the designation of these countries as being “safe” did not necessarily mean that other countries were unsafe, and that the list of “safe” countries would be reassessed continually.

Greece has tried to put forward legislation designating neighboring Turkey as a safe third country, which was struck down in court. The government in Athens is now trying to re-implement that law.

Nektaria Stamouli in Athens contributed to this report.