EEA Criticizes European Parliament’s New EU Return Regulation Changes

Concerns Arise Over Detention Regulations in the European Union

The European Evangelical Alliance (EEA) has voiced its concerns regarding the European Parliament’s recent decision to allow the detention of families and children who have unlawfully entered the European Union.

The European Parliament has endorsed a revised version of the EU Return Regulation (ERR), which outlines the procedures for expelling non-EU nationals who lack the legal right to stay in an EU country.

This updated ERR expands the criteria for detaining individuals and extends the duration of detention. Furthermore, it simplifies safeguards and appeal mechanisms while establishing “return hubs” outside the EU.

According to the EEA, migration is more than just a “side issue” as every individual, regardless of origin or legal status, is created in God’s image.

The EEA stated, “We recognise the legitimate duty of governments to manage migration responsibly, secure external borders, and combat human trafficking. None of this stands in tension with our faith; it flows from a proper concern for order and the common good. At the same time, several elements of this Regulation trouble us. Detention will now last longer and can apply to families with children.”

Concerns were also raised by the EEA about the return hubs, noting the lack of public scrutiny and the absence of assurances for maintaining appropriate conditions in these facilities.

“These changes fall hardest on those whose situations are already difficult to assess,” it said, highlighting groups like converts whose claims are based on personal testimony rather than documentation.

The EEA emphasized that for over a decade, it has developed resources to support asylum seekers claiming conversion to Christianity and fleeing persecution.

Arguing that national security and compassion are not “competing values”, the EEA stated that Europe is “capable of holding both”.

“We therefore ask the European Commission and Member States to preserve genuine access to legal remedies, give particular care to converts and other vulnerable claimants, ensure transparency and independent monitoring wherever return hubs are established, and continue to consult civil society as the rules are implemented,” it added.