EU legislators approve overhaul of migration laws

Members of the European Parliament participate in a series of votes as they attend a plenary session at the European Parliament in Brussels (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP)

European Union legislators have approved a major revamp of the bloc’s migration laws aimed at ending years of division over how to manage the entry of thousands of people without authorisation and depriving the far right of a vote-winning campaign issue ahead of June elections.

In a series of 10 votes, members of the European Parliament endorsed the regulations and policies that make up the Pact on Migration and Asylum.