“Send them back to their countries.” The slogan that turned into European policy policy

It is no longer the chant of “Send them back to their countries!” (Send them back!) What was shouted by far-right representatives in the corridors of the European Parliament in Strasbourg was merely a verbal provocation or an electoral slogan, but rather it turned into the essence of new European legislation.

The vote that took place on June 17, 2026, and approved by an overwhelming majority (418 votes) the “Return Centers” law for rejected immigrants, was translated, according to a report by Agence France-Presse, into an official political and administrative directive approved by the European Union.

An analytical article by writers Chloe Ferris Bono and Tania Rasho, published on the Orian 21 website, goes further, as it considers that the approval of this text essentially represents a political victory for the extreme right.

This victory is evident, according to the two writers, in the clear ideological identification within the dome of Parliament. While the traditional right welcomed the decision, describing it as a “historic step,” as stated by conservative MP François-Xavier Bellamy, the extreme right boasts, through the leader of the National Front party, Jordan Bardella, that it was the ideological guide for these negotiations, which proves that its radical theses are now dictating the agenda of the Old Continent, according to the article.

The new policy, which allows member states to establish migrant return centers in third countries, reflects – according to the authors – the Union’s adoption of a logic based on deporting asylum seekers from its territory instead of strengthening the international protection system.

The two writers believe that this step is not an isolated event, but rather an extension of a long path of “outsourcing” immigration management to countries outside the European Union, which began with agreements with countries such as Turkey, Libya, and Tunisia, before developing into the idea of ​​establishing detention and return centers outside European borders.

The article also criticizes what it describes as the legal gray area that may arise within these centers, as human rights defenders fear that it will turn into spaces in which it is difficult to guarantee the right to asylum or appeal deportation decisions, which opens the door to legal and humanitarian violations.

The article also believes that the European Union has become more willing to cooperate with authoritarian regimes in transit and receiving countries, as long as they commit to preventing migrants from arriving in Europe or receiving deportees.

Privatization of borders

To turn the slogan of deportation into a practical reality, the European Union is spreading the logic of “subcontracting” in managing the migration file by establishing detention centers outside its geographical borders.

The two writers draw attention to a glaring paradox: in pursuit of this goal, the European Union “no longer hides its complicity and accommodation with authoritarian regimes, as long as they have proven to be reliable partners in managing migration,” thus abandoning the human rights principles that it has always made a facade of its policies.

The article emphasizes that this new formula is not the result of the moment, but rather falls within decades of structural racism and dehumanization, where exiles are treated as commodities that are transferred between countries according to political and security agreements, far from the guarantees guaranteed by international law.

The authors: The traditional forces, which previously rejected the proposals of the extreme right, have now adopted a large part of them under the pressure of rising populism and security considerations.

Faced with the obsession with statistics, as the percentage of implementation of expulsion decisions currently does not exceed 20%, the Commission yielded to pressure from countries such as Greece, Germany, and the Netherlands.

This frantic race towards digital efficiency creates, according to the article, “administrative regions where there is no rule of law,” and legitimizes a harsh policy that the leaders of the Left and Greens assert is legislation whose “only compass is xenophobia.”

The article concludes that the most dangerous thing revealed by the recent vote is not only the tightening of immigration policy, but the change in European political discourse itself.

The traditional forces, which previously rejected the proposals of the extreme right, have now adopted a large part of them under the pressure of rising populism and security considerations.

Thus, the slogan “Send them back to their countries” is no longer just an electoral speech, but has turned into an official European policy, in a development that reflects the profound transformation that Europe is witnessing in its approach to issues of migration and asylum.