EU COUNCIL STRIKES DEAL ON MIGRATION PACT On 9 June, the EU Council struck a deal on several proposals of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum that severely curtails the rights of people arriving at the EU borders. The Council’s position foresees that anyone coming to the EU after being rescued at sea, or while crossing a border to apply for asylum would be held in dedicated facilities at the borders, in so-called border procedures, while their situation is being assessed. The Council’s position mandates member states to have a minimum “adequate capacity” to hold people in border procedures, based on the overall EU holding capacity and the number of entries in each country. This would likely lead to new detention facilities being built at the EU's external borders. Border procedures - which are very likely to entail deprivation of liberty - would also apply to children below 12 years old (with families), contrary to the Commission's initial proposal. The only exception is for unaccompanied children, unless national security is invoked. People who are denied asylum would be automatically issued a return decision and have basically no possibility to access other existing national permits. The European Commission, Council and Parliament are expected to negotiate the final text of the various proposals in the coming months. Read our brief analysis on Twitter.