The European Commission wants the EU border agency Frontex to play a leading role in returning rejected asylum seekers and other migrants who are not entitled to stay, according to the account. The Netherlands and other EU member states have for years struggled to remove people in this group from Europe.

The proposal would give Frontex a central role in deportations, described as a European counterpart to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The stated position is that people without the right to remain must leave.