EU tightens asylum rule with checklist of seven secure international locations

The European Union on Wednesday published a list of seven countries that it considers “safe,” as member states seek to speed up migrant returns.

The list includes Kosovo, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Morocco and Tunisia.

Wednesday’s announcement would make it harder for citizens of those nations to claim asylum in the bloc.

“Many member states are facing a significant backlog of asylum applications, so anything we can do now to support faster asylum decisions is essential,” said Magnus Brunner, the EU’s commissioner for migration.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the change “constitutes a success for the Italian government, which has always worked both at a bilateral and multilateral level to obtain the revision of the regulation.” 

This story is developing and will be updated…