(original posted on Polish media 12 March 2025)
“They will likely not be implementable in practice”—this is how Dr. Witold Klaus, a professor at the Institute of Legal Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences, a criminologist, and migration researcher, assessed the European Commission’s proposals for a joint migrant return system. “There is neither a legal nor a practical possibility to deport more people,” he emphasized.
Witold Klaus was asked by PAP for his opinion on the European Commission’s Tuesday proposal to create a joint system for all member states to return migrants who do not have the right to stay in the EU.
According to the researcher, this is “another step toward implementing the migration pact, aimed at facilitating the deportation of migrants from the European Union.”
He noted that EU politicians believe implementing such a joint system will make the EU more effective in deporting individuals deemed undesirable within its territory. However, in his view, this effectiveness will remain as low as it is now.
“There is a series of studies, including those commissioned by the European Commission under the Horizon program, which show that there is neither a legal nor a practical possibility to deport more people,” Prof. Klaus stressed.
He explained several reasons for this. The first is the lack of cooperation from migrants’ countries of origin, which “do not acknowledge these individuals, do not issue travel documents, making deportation impossible. Additionally, the deportation of some individuals is hindered by guaranteed human rights, which prevent it due to safety risks in their home countries.”
Witold Klaus also pointed out that most member states do not have readmission agreements with the migrants’ countries of origin.
“So, we have a lot of political will and many populist slogans around this issue, but these EC proposals will likely not be implementable in practice,” the expert noted.
As an example, he cited the Commission’s proposal to extend administrative detention of foreigners from 18 to 24 months—”If someone cannot be deported within 18 months, why does anyone think it will be possible in a longer period?” he commented.
Prof. Witold Klaus also emphasized that detention is not only very costly but also violates a fundamental human right: the right to liberty. It also causes significant suffering for those subjected to it. Importantly, as he noted, the vast majority of people placed in detention do not pose a security threat.
The migration expert also addressed the proposal to create so-called deportation hubs. “These would be located outside the EU, where individuals deemed undesirable in the Union could be sent, meaning they would wait there instead of here for return to their home countries,” he explained.
In his opinion, “this is a rather precarious instrument,” and the countries that have attempted to implement it—Italy and the UK—have not done so effectively, as “in both cases, the courts halted these regulations, rightly ruling that such deportations to third countries violate the rights and freedoms of those deported.”
He noted that this also raises the issue of a state’s responsibility for individuals sent to third countries where human rights cannot be guaranteed, adding that “we are again talking about excessive detention”—this time in these hubs.
“This was a problem in the UK with Rwanda. British courts ruled that the Rwandan government could not be trusted to uphold these rights,” he recalled. “In short: this is a very costly, legally controversial solution that has not withstood scrutiny in any national court of the countries that tried it,” he stressed.
Commenting on the proposal for an entry ban issued by one EU country to apply across all others, Klaus noted that such a measure already exists in practice—”a person forcibly deported from one country receives a ban on entering all Schengen zone countries for up to five years.”
When asked whether there are more effective and human rights-compliant ways to manage migration flows, the expert suggested that the approach to migrants must change, as must the narrative about them—ending the portrayal of migrants as a threat that must be guarded against.
“Precisely this fuels public fear, which politicians then try to address by introducing various ineffective solutions, leading to a spiral that ultimately boosts support for parties like Germany’s AfD or Poland’s Confederation,” Klaus said.
During the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, the EC presented its proposal for new EU-wide rules on migrant returns. The plan involves creating a joint system for all member states to return migrants without legal residence in the EU. The new regulation is intended to complement the migration pact, which will take effect in mid-2026. Under the pact, asylum applications are to be processed faster and more efficiently, but for the system to function smoothly, rules enabling the return of migrants in case of a negative asylum decision were also necessary.
The Commission also announced cooperation with third countries on readmission policies to ensure that individuals ordered to leave the EU are accepted back in their home countries.
For the regulations to come into force, they must be approved by the European Parliament and member states. According to the EC, this should happen quickly. The new regulation will repeal the current Returns Directive from 2008.
Mira Suchodolska (PAP)