Jonathan Frederic De Santos

A solidarity rally for Lebanon in Paris, France in May 2026. ABS-CBN News, file

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<p>BRUSSELS — A major reform of European migration rules aimed at hardening border procedures and overhauling the asylum process comes into force on Friday.</p><p>&quot;For the first time we have a comprehensive European system,&quot; said the EU&#x27;s migration chief Magnus Brunner, maintaining the reform would hand EU nations more control over comings and goings.</p><p>Here is an overview of the main changes:</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>BORDER PROCEDURES</strong></div><p>Migrants irregularly entering the European Union will undergo identity and security checks in a process lasting up to seven days.</p><p>Identity documents and biometric readings of their faces and fingerprints will be recorded in a database.</p><p>The screening aims to determine who should receive an accelerated or normal asylum application process, and who should be sent back to their country of origin or transit.</p><p>Rights groups complain this will de facto result in most migrants, including children, being detained for the duration of the process.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>FAST-TRACK REJECTION</strong></div><p>Asylum-seekers considered a security risk or with lower chances of receiving refugee status — those coming from countries such as Morocco and Bangladesh whose nationals are declined protection in at least 80 percent of cases — will be processed faster.</p><p>Their applications would be processed in centres close to the EU&#x27;s &quot;external borders&quot; — meaning land frontiers, ports and airports — in a process taking up to 12 weeks.</p><p>Rights groups say this will in most cases result in a further period of detention and a rushed decision.</p><p>For other asylum seekers, the standard procedure will continue to apply.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/5/22/humanitarian-situation-in-gaza-still-catastrophic-ngos-0841">Humanitarian situation in Gaza still catastrophic: NGOs</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>SOLIDARITY MECHANISM</strong></div><p>Under EU rules, the country in which an irregular migrant first sets foot is responsible for handling their case.</p><p>That places stress on Italy, Greece and Malta, which have received the bulk of land and sea arrivals in recent years.</p><p>To ease that burden, the reform introduces a solidarity mechanism compelling member states to take in a certain number of asylum-seekers arriving in the outer-rim countries.</p><p>Alternatively, they can pay 20,000 euros ($23,000) per asylum-seeker to the countries under pressure.</p><p>At least 30,000 asylum-seekers a year will come under this relocation system.</p><p>Related negotiations have already proven difficult, with a first round held last year seeing several countries refusing to accept any relocations.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>SURGE RESPONSE</strong></div><p>The package establishes an emergency response in the event of unexpected migration surges — the same sort of crisis the EU faced in 2015-2016 when more than two million asylum-seekers entered the bloc, many from war-torn Syria and Afghanistan.</p><p>It will allow member states to reduce protections for asylum-seekers, making it possible to hold them longer than usually permitted in detention centres on the EU&#x27;s external borders.</p><p>The system will also apply to the so-called &quot;instrumentalization&quot; of migratory flows — an accusation often leveled at Belarus and Russia, which EU neighbors say push migrants across the border in a bid to destabilize the 27-nation bloc.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/11/26/doj-confident-austria-will-do-due-diligence-on-harry-roque-s-asylum-bid-1508">DOJ trusts Austria will do due diligence on Harry Roque&#x27;s asylum bid</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>CONCERNS</strong></div><p>A dozen member states are yet to finalize preparations, including setting up the necessary infrastructure, to accommodate the new screening procedures.</p><p>Others have experienced troubles with the biometric database.</p><p>Public opinion has further hardened on migration since the changes were adopted, pushing EU states to demand further action.</p><p>A new package of measures aimed at boosting deportations of failed asylum-seekers is currently rushing through the EU&#x27;s legislative process.</p><p>This has added to rights groups&#x27; worries that humanitarian concerns were taking the back seat to politics in Europe.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/4/29/what-is-the-schengen-area-where-zaldy-co-is-believed-to-be-hiding-1431">What is the Schengen area where Zaldy Co is believed to be hiding?<br/></a></div><p>&quot;The Pact takes a sledgehammer to the right to asylum at a time when the world needs Europe more than ever to champion human rights,&quot; Judith Sunderland of Human Rights Watch said of the measures coming into force on June 12.</p>

<p> A major reform of European migration rules aimed at hardening border procedures and overhauling the asylum process comes into force on Friday.</p>

A major reform of European migration rules aimed at hardening border procedures and overhauling the asylum process comes into force on Friday.

The migration pact: What's in the EU's landmark asylum reform?

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The migration pact: What's in the EU's landmark asylum reform?

Agence France-Presse

Published June 12, 2026 02:41 PM PHT

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European Union

Asylum

Asylum seekers

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