EU moves closer to creating offshore centres for migrants and asylum seekers

Migrants board an Italian Coast Guard vessel as part of a transfer operation from the asylum processing centres in Albania in February 2025.  File picture: Vlasov Sulaj/AP

The EU has moved closer to creating offshore centres for migrants and asylum seekers, after centre-right and far-right MEPs united for tougher migration policies.

MEPs voted for legal changes that will give authorities more options to deport asylum seekers, including sending people to countries they have never been to.