CALGARY — New figures released by the European Union show migrant deportations continued to increase during the first quarter of 2026, even as the number of new return orders issued across the bloc fell to its lowest level in more than two years. Data covering the first three months of 2026 shows 34,550 migrants subject to deportation orders were returned to their countries of origin, either through deportations or voluntary returns. That represents a 2% increase from the previous quarter and an 8.1% rise compared to the same period in 2025.Germany carried out the highest number of returns with 7,300, followed by France with 3,775 and Poland with 2,660.At the same time, EU authorities issued just over 108,000 return orders to non-EU citizens during the quarter. France accounted for nearly 35,000 of those cases. The total number of return orders was down 7.9% from the previous quarter and 12.8% lower than the first quarter of 2025, marking the lowest level recorded since late 2023.The decline in return orders has been linked to fewer illegal migrants being detected within EU member states and an increase in border-entry refusals. EU figures show refusals at external borders rose 7% last year, while the number of illegal migrants identified within the bloc fell by more than 21% in 2025..WATCH: Europe sees widespread migrant rioting following controversial Africa Cup of Nations final.The latest data comes as the EU implements its new Returns Regulation, legislation intended to streamline deportations and improve enforcement of removal orders. At the same time, the bloc's Migration Pact has come into force, introducing new rules that critics argue make it more difficult for member states to turn migrants away at external borders.The figures also highlight a gap between the nationalities receiving the most deportation orders and those actually being returned.During the first quarter of 2026, the largest number of returned migrants were citizens of Turkey, with 3,555 returns, followed by Georgia with 2,060 and Albania with 2,050.By contrast, the largest number of return orders were issued to Algerian nationals, who received 11,105 orders, followed by Moroccans with 6,435 and Syrians with 5,355.According to the European Conservative, the disparity suggests EU authorities continue to struggle to remove some of the nationalities most frequently targeted for deportation.The latest quarterly figures place the EU's deportation rate at 31.9%, nearly four percentage points higher than the overall deportation rate recorded for all of 2025, which stood at 28%.Despite the improvement, the data indicates the EU still fails to enforce more than two-thirds of deportation orders issued across the bloc, a challenge lawmakers hope the new Returns Regulation will address. Whether the legislation succeeds in significantly increasing removals remains uncertain.
