World News for Students of English

23-06-2026 15:00

The European Parliament has approved new measures aimed at increasing the deportation of undocumented people. This sparked a heated confrontation among lawmakers.

An alliance of centre-right and far-right politicians voted 418 to 218 in favor of the overhaul. Following the vote, right-wing lawmakers celebrated by jumping to their feet, pumping their fists, and chanting ‚send them back‘. In response, leftwing and centre-left politicians shouted back ‚shame on you‘, which showed deep political divisions.

Human rights groups and UN experts have strongly criticized the plan and called it cruel and discriminatory. The new rules allow for people to be detained for up to two years or sent to offshore centres, which critics call human rights black holes. While far-right leaders welcomed the vote as a successful show of political force, opponents warned of hatred and damage to democratic institutions. They marked it a dark moment in European history.

Difficult words: alliance (a group of people, political parties, or countries that agree to work together to achieve something), overhaul (a complete change to a system or a law to fix it or make it work in a brand new way), division (a deep and serious disagreement between two groups of people that separates them), discriminatory (unfair because it treats a specific group of people worse than others based on who they are).

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