EU prepares strategy to deport rejected asylum seekers

The European Union is set to deport migrants whose applications for asylum or regularization have been rejected.

The interior ministers of the bloc came together Thursday in Stockholm to work on migration policies.

The informal meeting was held ahead of the gathering of all 27 EU heads of state on Feb. 10, where migration will dominate the agenda.

At the end of the first day of talks, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson told journalists that over 300,000 people entered the EU illegally last year.

She said a total of 924,000 asylum applications were posted in the EU in 2022.

“That means we have three times more asylum applications than irregular arrivals, and these are overloading the reception capacities,” Johansson said, adding most of these migrants are not in need of international protection.