Migrants line up to eat at the Las Raices migrant camp in La Laguna, on the island of Tenerife, Spain, Oct. 27, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Borja Suarez

The European Union executive on Tuesday proposed amending EU law to allow member states to deport rejected asylum seekers to countries with which they have no connection, a move rights groups say would undermine the right to asylum.

The European Commission said the changes, which would let countries remove an asylum applicant if they could be sent to a third country deemed safe by the EU, would “accelerate asylum processes and reduce pressure on asylum systems.”

The proposal would lift the requirement for a connection between the asylum seeker and the safe third country.

“The revised Safe Third Country concept is another tool to help member states process asylum claims more efficiently, while fully respecting the EU’s values and fundamental rights,” said EU internal affairs and migration commissioner Magnus Brunner.

Anti-immigration sentiment has grown across the 27-nation EU since over a million people – mostly Syrian refugees – arrived via the Mediterranean in 2015, catching the bloc unprepared. Unable to agree on how to share responsibility, EU countries have primarily focused on returns and reducing arrivals.

The amendments also stipulate that if asylum seekers appeal their rejected requests, they cannot automatically remain in EU territory during the appeals process.

Amnesty International sharply criticized the proposal.

“Let’s be clear: this revision would only further weaken access to asylum in Europe, diminish people’s rights, and increase the risk of refoulement and widespread arbitrary detention in third countries – especially given the EU’s increasingly evident inability to monitor and uphold human rights in its partner countries,” said Olivia Sundberg Diez, Amnesty’s EU Advocate on Migration and Asylum.

The proposal stems from the EU migration pact that was adopted in 2023 and is expected to take effect in 2026. However, it will require approval by the European Parliament and EU member governments.

In April, the EU Commission included states such as Egypt and Tunisia – where human rights records have come under scrutiny – on a list of “safe countries” to which failed asylum seekers could be returned.

A month earlier, it proposed that member states be allowed to set up centers in non-EU countries where migrants whose asylum claims were rejected would await deportation.