EU Parliament Approves Controversial Asylum and Migration Pact

The European Parliament passed a series of controversial reforms to the EU's migration laws through the adoption of the Pact on Migration and Asylum. This legislation aims to help address the issue of irregular migrants entering the EU and determine responsibility for their management among member states. Under the new rules, migrants undergoing irregular entry will undergo identity, health, and security checks with biometric readings. Children will receive special treatment, and member countries are required to have independent monitoring mechanisms in place to ensure human rights are upheld. The reforms ended years of deadlock over border management and asylum processes, with 10 pieces of legislation being passed. The Dublin system, under which the first country through which a migrant entered the bloc was responsible for processing their application for asylum, has been abolished.