70+ Rights Groups Warn EU Against Harsh Deportation Plan Fueling Racial Profiling
February 16, 2026
More than 70 rights organisations from across Europe have asked the European Union to reject a proposal that would increase deportations of undocumented migrants. The plan could allow police to carry out raids in private homes without a court order and require public services to report undocumented people. These moves would turn everyday places into enforcement zones. The draft regulation, proposed by the European Commission last March, aims to speed up deportations of those without legal stay, including possible offshore centres in non-EU countries. "We cannot be outraged by ICE in the United States while also supporting these practices in Europe," said Michele LeVoy from the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants. The groups warn that the plan risks racial profiling and will fuel far-right rhetoric. They say it could stop people from accessing healthcare, education, and social services. Médecins du Monde highlighted cases in Minnesota where immigration crackdowns caused pregnant women, children, and sick people to avoid hospitals. A UN letter sent to the EU last month raised serious concerns, warning the regulation could breach human rights obligations and wrongly blame migrants for social problems like housing shortages. Data sharing and increased surveillance are also part of the proposal. Alamara Khwaja Bettum from Statewatch said, "Increasing surveillance, policing, and racial profiling will only fuel racism and a far-right agenda - not reduce migration." The European Parliament’s civil liberties committee will vote on the draft regulation in early March. Meanwhile, last week, centre-right and far-right MEPs supported new rules to allow deporting asylum seekers to countries outside their origin, moving the EU closer to offshore migrant centres. Emmanuel Achiri from the European Network Against Racism said the plan is "a direct and disproportionate attack on communities that are already marginalised."
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Tags:
Eu Deportation
Undocumented migrants
Immigration enforcement
Human rights
Racial profiling
European commission
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