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The interior and immigration ministers of the European Union member states are meeting today in Stockholm to discuss issues related to the introduction of visa restrictions and improving coordination within the bloc to return more migrants who have been denied the right of asylum in Europe, back to their home countries, including Iraq, Reuters reported.

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Three years after the EU's 27 member states agreed to restrict visas to citizens of countries deemed uncooperative with the union on readmitting its own nationals who have been refused asylum in the bloc, only The Gambia was officially punished.

The European Commission has proposed similar measures for Iraq, Senegal and Bangladesh, although cooperation with Dhaka on the return of Bangladeshi nationals has improved, according to two EU officials.

However, the overall rate of effective return of migrants without asylum to the EU remains at 21% in 2021, according to the latest Eurostat figures.

"This is a level that our member states consider unacceptably low," an EU official said.

"Establishing an effective and common EU return system for non-asylum migrants is central to well-functioning and reliable migration and asylum systems," said an EC document intended for discussions between ministers, which was seen by Reuters managed to meet.

According to the United Nations, in 2022 about 160,000 people crossed the Mediterranean Sea, the main route to Europe for people fleeing wars and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia.

In addition, nearly 8 million Ukrainian refugees are already registered across Europe.

Home and migration ministers are meeting two weeks before EU leaders gather in Brussels to discuss migration and are also expected to call for more people to be sent back.

"Swift action is needed to ensure the effective return of people from the territory of the European Union to their countries of origin, making use of all relevant EU policies," said a draft joint statement by the ministers provided to Reuters.

The justice and interior ministers of the EU are meeting because of the migrant crisis

However, according to the EC, there are not enough resources and there is not enough coordination within the EU between the different governing bodies to ensure that every person without a right of residence is effectively returned or deported.

"The insufficient cooperation of their home countries is an additional challenge," the document said, citing problems such as identity recognition, issuing identity and travel documents.

So far, there hasn't been enough of a majority among EU member states to punish countries other than The Gambia, whose citizens can no longer obtain multiple-entry visas for the bloc and are waiting longer for visas to be issued.

While some EU member states, including Austria and Hungary, protest loudly against the predominantly Muslim illegal migration from the Middle East and North Africa, Germany is among the countries that want to open up their labor market to much-needed workers from outside the bloc. notes Reuters, quoted by BTA.

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