EU's provisional safe countries list includes 'repressive' states Submitted by Alex MacDonald on Thu, 12/18/2025 - 09:36 Dissidents criticise new legislation fast-tracking asylum rejections from Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey and Morocco Egypt's Planning Minister Rania al-Mashat, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, European Council President Antonio Costa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and European Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis in Brussels, Belgium on 22 October 2025 (AFP) Off The EU has provisionally approved a list of safe countries that will allow for the fast-tracking of asylum application rejections, despite criticism from rights groups that it includes a number of states accused of human rights abuses, persecution of dissidents and political instability. The list, first proposed in April, features a range of countries – including Egypt , Tunisia , Morocco and Turkey – that will be considered "safe countries of origin" as the EU attempts to form a more unified programme for processing the influx of people into the bloc. Under new asylum rules, formalised by EU ministers last week and provisionally adopted after a vote by its parliament on Wednesday, an EU country will be able to reject an asylum application if the person could have received protection in a country the EU considers safe . Bangladesh, Colombia and India are also among those included as "safe" countries, along with EU candidate countries, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. The new legislation has provoked alarm from rights groups and dissidents who point to widespread human rights abuses in many of the countries listed. Ahmed Attalla, executive director of the Egyptian Front for Human Rights (EFHR), told Middle East Eye that the new rules were in violation of "the right to asylum". "While the proposal’s adoption by the European Parliament was anticipated, given the current right-wing majority and the focus of major political groups' agendas and national electoral interests, this approach places border control and migration deterrence above human rights and the rule of law in these countries," he said. "Designating Egypt as a safe country of origin will significantly increase the vulnerability of individuals persecuted for political, religious, or human rights-related reasons, exposing them to accelerated screening procedures and rapid deportation – many risk being returned to the very conditions of repression and abuse from which they fled," Attalla added. MEE contacted the Danish presidency of the Council of the EU for a statement, but received no response at time of publication. 'End of the right to asylum in Europe' Along with the new list of safe countries, council and parliament negotiators agreed to adopt "safe third country" legislation that would allow EU member states to reject an asylum application as inadmissible if the applicant could have sought and, if eligible, received international protection in a non-EU country considered safe for them. The parliament voted on Wednesday to allow parliamentary negotiators to finalise the new rules with the council, with only The Left bloc of leftist lawmakers uniformly voting in opposition. 'This list… is yet another manoeuvre by the EU to free itself from international law' - Damien Careme, French MEP French MEP Damien Careme, a member of the left-wing La France Insoumise, warned that the new legislation effectively strips away the right to asylum in Europe and said his bloc would continue to oppose it in the parliament. "This list, driven by purely and blatantly political considerations, includes countries as lacking in respect for human rights as Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, or Turkey… It is yet another manoeuvre by the EU to free itself from international law," he said in a statement. "It is, quite simply, the end of the right to asylum in Europe.” The new rules, which still need to be formally approved by both the commission and parliament, will take effect from 12 June 2026. European governments have become increasingly determined to crack down on migration to the continent and have spent years calling for a bloc-wide policy to tackle the flow. Political parties and politicians across the spectrum have been touting the need for greater restrictions on asylum policy, pointing to the rise of far-right parties across Europe as anti-migrant sentiment mounts. Over 100,000 Syrian lives on hold in EU and UK amid lingering asylum freeze Read More » However, dissidents have expressed fears that the change to asylum rules could end Europe's status as a safe haven for those fleeing political persecution, war and instability. Jihad Khaled, an Egyptian campaigner and refugee living in Europe, told MEE in April that the new list did not reflect reality. "I really do wish Egypt was a safe country. I would be at least living with my family now and wouldn’t have to apply for asylum because I’m also at risk of prison in Egypt, due to my activities advocating for political prisoners," Khaled said. "But, unfortunately, this is not the situation." Khaled's mother, Hoda Abdelmoneim , is still in prison, along with more than 60,000 other political prisoners. Egypt ranks 18th out of 100 on Freedom House's "Freedom in the World" index , which rates people’s access to political rights and civil liberties in 208 countries (the higher the ranking, the less freedom in the country). This puts Egypt higher than Algeria , Iraq and Jordan , none of which were included in the new safe countries list. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has described the Egyptian government as being engaged in "wholesale repression, systematically detaining and punishing peaceful critics and activists and effectively criminalising peaceful dissent", while "thousands of detainees remained locked up in dire conditions in lengthy pretrial detention or on sentences stemming from unjust trials". Widespread rights abuses Aside from Egypt, Morocco, Turkey and Tunisia have also faced scrutiny over their treatment of opposition figures and rights campaigners. Since a coup led by the now-President Kais Saied in July 2021, Tunisia has dismantled all political checks and balances and repressed dissenting voices. In a controversial mass trial last month, sentences of up to 45 years were handed down on appeal to dozens of opposition figures accused of "conspiracy against state security" and "belonging to a terrorist group". Fifty years of plunder: How Morocco and its allies profit from Western Sahara Read More » Morocco, for its part, continues to occupy Western Sahara – a territory it fully captured in 1979 – where Sahrawi activists and journalists are regularly imprisoned, attacked by police and subjected to sexual abuse. Female Sahrawi activists, in particular, have faced severe abuse at the hands of the security services, including rape. In recent years, thousands of Sahrawis have fled their homes to neighbouring Algeria, after the ceasefire between the Polisario Front independence movement and Morocco collapsed in 2020. Rights groups have also pointed to arbitrary arrests of Moroccan journalists, activists and lawyers, with many convicted for "defaming" local officials. "Morocco is no safe place even for Moroccans," said Oubi Bachir, former EU representative for the Polisario Front. He told MEE in April that "repression is the dominating policy" in the Sahrawi territories controlled by Morocco. The new rules also extend to EU candidate countries, including those who have faced criticism over their rights records. At present, there are nine countries recognised as candidate members: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. Concerns have been raised by rights groups about a number of these countries. Turkey, in particular, has had a range of dissidents living across the EU for decades – mainly leftists, liberal journalists and members and sympathisers of pro-Kurdish organisations. Torture in prison and police detention has been described by Amnesty International as "widespread and systematic", while HRW has accused the government of "targeting perceived government critics and political opponents, profoundly undermining the independence of the judiciary, and hollowing out democratic institutions". Human Rights News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0