(LifeSiteNews) — The bishops of the European Union and Caritas Europa have criticized the EU for implementing stricter immigration rules.
On June 17, the European Parliament passed rules for faster deportation procedures for migrants who have to leave the union. Under the regulation, migrants without the right to remain can be held in detention pending deportation for up to 30 months under certain circumstances. Children may also face detention pending deportation, although lawmakers emphasize that such detention is a last resort in these cases.
The new regulation also allows for the establishment of special return centers outside the EU. These centers are intended to house rejected asylum seekers who cannot be deported to their home countries – for example, because their country of origin cannot be clearly determined or because there are no diplomatic relations with that country. The EU now also provides clearer guidelines on how rejected asylum seekers must cooperate with their own deportation if they wish to avoid penalties. In addition, the directive tightens the rules for individuals who pose a security risk.
According to the European Commission, only about one in four people required to leave the EU actually did so last year.
The legislation must now be formally approved by the European Council, which is expected to happen in the next weeks.
The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) reacted to the Parliament’s decision by stating: “While recognising the legitimate responsibility of public authorities to manage migration, ensure the integrity of borders and combat human trafficking, COMECE remains deeply concerned about aspects of the new framework that risk weakening the effective protection of fundamental rights and the dignity of vulnerable persons.”
“In particular, the expansion of detention, the limitations on effective remedies and appeals, and the increasing externalisation of responsibilities to third countries raise serious ethical and humanitarian questions,” the statement by COMECE reads.
“During his recent visit to the Canary Islands, Pope Leo XIV reminded Europe and the world that we cannot remain indifferent to those who perish at sea, fall victim to human trafficking, or are forced to flee war, violence, persecution, hunger or environmental degradation,” the EU bishops said.
“As the Holy Father stated, migrants are not ‘a category or a statistic,’ but persons who ‘could be part of our own family.’ These words challenge our conscience and call us to look beyond fear and political expediency.”
The Catholic charity Caritas Europa also criticized the new migration policy.
“We regret that these new rules will normalise coercive measures and detention – including of children and families – while severely restricting legal safeguards and rights and creating return hubs outside Europe,” secretary general of Caritas Europa, Maria Nyman, said.
“This regulation risks further stigmatising and criminalising migrants, fuelling polarisation at a time when our societies urgently need greater cohesion,” Nyman stated. “It is high time our leaders brought humanity and fundamental rights, not fear of the other, back to the centre of migration policy. At Caritas, we reiterate our call to uphold human dignity, justice and respect for every person and in all circumstances.”
Caritas Europa said “invasive measures” like authorities entering into the homes of illegals could lead to “human rights violations” and compared them to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which “have been widely condemned by both human rights bodies and civil society organisations.”
Neither COMECE nor Caritas mentioned the heightened crime rates in European countries due to mass migrations from countries like Afghanistan or Syria. In Germany, the EU’s largest country in terms of population, which has taken in millions of migrants over the past decade, Syrians and Afghans are over 10 times more likely to commit a crime than Germans, according to the response to a parliamentary inquiry in 2025.