Top News

A new migration crackdown will see European Union countries fined for refusing to take in refugees. Governments could face a penalty of £17,500 per person if they do not take someone in, which will then be given to another member state willing to accept migrants under the programme. EU ministers agreed on a legal target of relocating 21,000 migrants from countries grappling with soaring migration, such as Italy and Greece, to other members in the bloc.

However, countries in the union have already expressed their concern with the scheme, with Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia and Poland opting out of the relocation programme. The EU migration pact contains stricter provisions for rules to detain and deport failed asylum seekers, which includes the creation of hubs outside of the bloc where migrants can be held.

Under the new scheme, authorities will be allowed to raid homes and seize properties in order to enforce deportations.

Magnus Brunner, the migration commissioner, said: "It's a turning point in European migration and asylum policy altogether."

The move is seen as a major overhaul of the EU's rules for illegal migrants as tensions over the issue are simmering across the continent.

Ministers in the bloc also agreed that the EU would be able to immediately reject asylum claims if the migrant has sought similar assistance elsewhere. This includes countries in the EU which have a deal to process asylum claims.

In addition, the bloc has labelled foreign countries, including Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia, as "safe" for the first time.

This means anyone arriving from these nations will be deported under a less intricate procedure.

The stricter measures have been met with criticism from human rights campaigners, claiming the EU has been turned into a "police state".

Amnesty's Olivia Sundberg Diez told The Telegraph: "This approach mirrors the harrowing, dehumanising and unlawful mass arrests, detention and deportations in the US, which are tearing families apart and devastating communities."

Silvia Carta, advocacy officer at Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants, added that the "new proposal carries the hallmarks of a police state".