EU to back migrant 'return hubs'

EU COUNTRIES yesterday are expected to approve a significant tightening of Europe's immigration policy, including endorsing the concept of setting up "return hubs" for migrants outside the 27-nation bloc.

- 

Fearful of far-right parties making gains at the ballot box, governments across Europe are scrambling to take a tougher stance.

Interior ministers meeting in Brussels will vote for the first time on a series of measures presented this year by the bloc's executive to more strictly regulate the arrival and return of migrants.

If adopted, these measures would notably allow:

· The opening of centres outside the EU's borders to which migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected would be sent, the so-called "return hubs".