European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU could “learn lessons” from Italy’s controversial policy of processing migrants overseas in Albania, as leaders of the 27 member states held an EU summit on migration.
Ahead of the Brussels summit, he wrote to EU leaders saying the EU administration will present a new proposal for legislation to increase deportations of migrants.
Italy has started sending more migrants to an operation center in Albania earlier this week.
The 16 men were transferred to the Albanian port of Shengjin on Wednesday, but hours after their arrival it was revealed that two were minors and the other two were in serious medical condition and would therefore be sent back to Italy.
Some EU countries have started looking at ways to process immigrants in third countries.
On Wednesday, the Dutch government said it was considering a plan to send asylum seekers to Uganda.
By establishing this week’s conference on the issue of migration, von der Leyen – who is starting a second five-year term as head of the European Commission – appears to be responding to immigration pressure from across Europe.
In his letter to member states, von der Leyen said the return rate of irregular migrants from EU countries is currently around 20% – meaning that the majority of people ordered to leave an EU member state do not.
The member states should all recognize the decisions taken by other EU countries to ensure that “migrants who have decided to return to one country cannot exploit the cracks in the system to avoid returning to another”, writes von der Leyen.
Under the Italy-Albania plan, some of the migrants rescued in the Mediterranean will be sent to Albania where their asylum claims will be examined.
The two processing facilities, worth around 650 million euros (£547m), were due to open last spring but suffered long delays, have been paid for by the Italian government and will operate under Italian law.
They will house the migrants while Italy examines their asylum applications. Pregnant women, children and vulnerable people will not be included in this program.
Right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni’s political opponents and several NGOs have criticized Italy’s cooperation with Albania.
Riccardo Magi, a member of Parliament with the left-wing +Europa group, said the Albanian system is “cruel, useless and expensive”, while the NGO Doctors Without Borders said it “may cause harm and human rights violations”.
Human rights activists gathered near the Italian-built Shengjin facility holding a large banner that read: “The European dream ends here.”
However, speaking to MPs on Tuesday, Meloni said the plan was “a new, bold, unprecedented approach” that “fully reflects the European spirit”.
The implementation and consequences of the Albanian agreement will be closely watched by many EU member states, several of which have tried to respond to the increase in support for far-right groups by toughening their rhetoric and their approach to migration.
Only in the past few weeks, Germany has reintroduced global border checks, the French government has said it will look to tighten immigration laws and Poland has announced a plan to temporarily suspend the right to asylum for people crossing the border.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the controversial move was aimed at stopping Belarus from “demolishing” Poland by allowing large numbers of migrants into the country.
In France and Germany, it was the gruesome killings that prompted a crackdown on immigration. A Syrian who failed to seek asylum stabbed and killed three people in Solingenwhile a young student was killed by a Moroccan citizen near Paris. In both of these incidents, the killings were carried out by men who had been given eviction orders that had not been followed.
Last month, 15 member states signed a proposal by Austria and the Netherlands to improve the “efficiency” of the deportation system.
Source link
