The European Parliament on Wednesday, April 10 adopted a landmark overhaul of the EU's asylum and migration rules, which hardens border procedures and forces all 27 member countries to take action.
"History made" parliament president Roberta Metsola posted on X, the former Twitter, following the passage of all 10 parts of the migration and asylum pact that caps almost a decade of arduous negotiations between member states.
For more than 160 migrant charities and non-governmental organizations, the pact is a betrayal of European Union values and a hardening of a "Fortress Europe" mentality. Protesters in the public gallery briefly disrupted the start of the voting, yelling "This pact kills - vote no!" until the chamber was brought to order.
The UNHCR refugee agency's chief has endorsed the reform, prepared by the European Commission in the years since massive inflows in 2015 and the fruit of arduous negotiations.
Far-right lawmakers say the overhaul does not go far enough to block access to irregular migrants, whom they accuse of spreading insecurity and threatening to "submerge" European identity.