Migration and asylum policy of the European Union

BRUSSELS - European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to use all their leverage, including trade, development aid and visa policy, to speed up returns of migrants illegally entering the bloc and asked the European Commission to urgently draft a law.

The European Commission has announced it will allocate 25 million euros to EU member states to enhance the voluntary return of migrants who lack the right to remain. The funding will come from the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and aims to expand return initiatives. Countries have until November 15 to apply for this support.

Migration policy in most European Union member states has become a nagging issue, heard not just as far away as Brussels but also as far away as Luxembourg, where the 27 interior and justice ministers of EU member states are meeting today.

Germany has introduced temporary border controls to ensure safe, orderly, and legal entry into the country, a move that will not impact the visa issuance process for Turkish citizens, as confirmed by Germany's Embassy in Türkiye on Monday.

Germany is unilaterally promoting a new strict package on migration and internal security. In a sudden move, Berlin expanded temporary border controls with nine neighboring countries starting at midnight on Sunday. These measures are causing concern in Brussels, which is seeking explanations.

The United Nations refugee agency on Friday said government authorities in ethnically divided Cyprus have rounded up dozens of migrants and pushed them back inside a UN-controlled buffer zone that they crossed to seek asylum.

The Turkish Coast Guard said Monday that it rescued 25 irregular migrants in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Marmaris district in Türkiye's southwestern Muğla province.

The irregular migrants were pushed back into Turkish territorial waters by Greek coastal authorities, said the Coast Guard Command.

Measures have been increased at three specific points in Cyprus for possible flows of migrants

The new European migration and asylum pact has been ratified despite opposition from Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia, with the Czech Republic, Malta, and Austria abstaining during the final vote on Tuesday. However, their dissent did not thwart the approval of the legislative package, as it garnered the necessary qualified majority from member states.

The European Parliament has greenlit a new Migration and Asylum Plan, marking a significant shift in EU migration policy. The plan introduces mandatory quotas for the distribution of migrants among EU member states and establishes a novel approach to processing asylum applications.