The European Parliament has given the green light to the first list of “safe countries of origin” whose citizens will no longer be able to seek asylum in the EU.

The list includes Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Kosovo, India, Morocco and Tunisia as well as EU candidate countries such as the Western Balkans nations, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.

The Netherlands scrapped its own list of safe countries last September, following a series of rulings by the European Court of Justice that placed limits on which regions were eligible.

Under the EU rules, member states will be able to examine asylum applications from safe countries with an accelerated procedure which can be carried out at the border or in transit zones.

It will be up to the asylum seeker to prove that there is a real threat of persecution or serious harm if they return.

EU member states will also be able to designate other countries as safe, a measure that will only apply at national level.

The European parliament on Tuesday also agreed new conditions for EU member states to decide whether a country is safe for asylum applicants who are not their nationals.

These could include the presence of family members, language or cultural links, previous stays or transit to reach the EU, or an agreement for the admission of asylum seekers.

EU member states will also be able to conclude agreements with third countries to examine asylum applications there, a move which Amnesty International says is “another attack on the right to asylum”.

The vote mean that people seeking asylum in the EU could be sent to countries to which they have no connection with and where they have never even set foot, the campaign group said.

“These measures mark an abdication of the EU’s commitment to refugee protection and pave the way for EU member states to broker agreements with third countries for the offshore processing of asylum claims.”

Uniform approach

“The first EU list of safe countries of origin will allow member states to pursue a more uniform approach to asylum applications of nationals from countries on the EU list whose claims are likely to be unfounded,” the European Commission said.

The regulation still has to be adopted by the Council, which should be a formality given that the institutions agreed on the text in December. The new rules will start applying on 12 June 2026 as part of a wider EU package of measures on asylum and migration.