EU tightens asylum rules

BRUSSELS, Apr 16 (AFP): The European Union on Wednesday published a list of seven countries it considers "safe", in a bid to speed up migrant returns by making it harder for citizens of those nations to claim asylum in the bloc.

The European Commission said it was proposing to designate Kosovo, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Morocco and Tunisia as "safe countries of origin".

The move, criticised by rights groups, is set to allow EU governments to process asylum applications filed from citizens of those countries more quickly -- by introducing a presumption that such claims lack merit.

"Many member states are facing a significant backlog of asylum applications, so anything we can do now to support faster asylum decisions is essential," said Magnus Brunner, the EU's commissioner for migration.

Brussels has been under pressure to clamp down on irregular arrivals and facilitate deportations, following a souring

of public opinion on migration that has fuelled hard-right electoral

gains in several

countries.