EU lists seven 'safe' countries including India, Bangladesh to speed up asylum process

Brussels: The European Commission on Wednesday proposed speeding up certain aspects of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum by introducing key measures.

One of the main steps includes creating the first EU list of safe countries of origin, which includes India, Kosovo, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.

In a release, the European Commission said, "Today, the Commission is proposing to accelerate the implementation of certain aspects of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, adopted last year and due to enter into application in June 2026. The Commission is proposing to frontload two key elements of the Asylum Procedure Regulation with the aim of supporting Member States to process asylum claims faster and more efficiently for applicants whose claims are likely to be unfounded. In addition, and to support the same objective, the Commission is proposing to make use of one of the novelties of the Pact and establish an EU list of safe countries of origin, the nationals from which will see their applications processed in an accelerated or border procedure."

It added, "Commission is also proposing to establish a first EU list of safe countries of origin. Some Member States already have national lists of safe countries of origin. An EU list will complement these and support a more uniform application of the concept, which allows Member States to process asylum claims of nationals from countries on the list in an accelerated procedure, on the basis that their claims are unlikely to be successful. The Commission is proposing to establish a first EU list covering Kosovo, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Morocco and Tunisia."

Magnus Brunner, Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, said that many EU countries are struggling with a growing backlog of asylum applications, and speeding up the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum is essential.

"We have a little over a year before the Pact on Migration and Asylum enters into full application, but where we can go faster, we should go faster. Many Member States are facing a significant backlog of asylum applications, so anything we can do now to support faster asylum decisions is essential. The Pact provisions on recognition rates and applying the safe country of origin concept can help Member States deal with claims more quickly, whilst always ensuring that every asylum claim still receives an individual assessment and is subject to the scrutiny of national courts," Brunner said.