EU countries have significantly tightened migration policy: the number of deportations in 2025 became a record for the last decade. At the same time, the number of new asylum seekers continues to decrease.
This is reported by Euronews.
According to the study, over the past four years, the number of migrants arriving in the EU has decreased from 5.4 million to 4.5 million people. In 2025 alone, 361,000 people were granted protection status, the lowest figure in six years.
On the other hand, the number of forced return decisions is increasing. Last year, EU countries issued almost half a million deportation orders. About 155,000 people were actually expelled, the highest figure since the beginning of the decade.
European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner said that Europe is completing a large-scale reform of the border control system.
"With it, we are strengthening the protection of our external borders by introducing the most modern border management system in the world - the entry/exit system," he said during the Europe in Motion forum.
The most frequently deported citizens from the EU in 2025 were Turkish citizens - more than 13,000 people. This is followed by citizens of Georgia, Syria and Albania.
The largest number of actual expulsions was recorded in Germany - almost 30,000. In France, about 15,000 people were deported, and in Sweden - over 11,000.
At the same time, it was France that issued the largest number of repatriation decisions – 138,000, but a significant part of people remained in the country after that.
There was also an increase in entry refusals at the EU borders. In 2025, 133,000 people were denied entry to the European Union. The most common reason was the lack of a confirmed purpose of the trip or problems with documents.
The largest number of cases of denial of entry of migrants was recorded in Poland - almost 30,000 people.
Recall that under the scenario of "fragile peace with concessions", 2.4 million Ukrainian refugees out of approximately 5.2 million who are in Europe will not return to Ukraine until at least 2029.
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