2024-10-17 11:41:00
The idea of creating deportation centers outside the European Union is gaining strength. A large majority of countries of different political colors support the idea – still very preliminary – of sending asylum seekers to these camps, which the new European Commission is open to exploring as part of a reform of the deportation regulation. Spain is, for now, the only partner clearly against the measure, supported among others by Denmark, Austria and Italy. The debate on immigration will be at the center of the summit of heads of state and government which will take place this Thursday in Brussels.
Rome has already opened expulsion camps in Albania, an experience that some partners see as a model to follow. Others, like Ireland, France or Luxembourg, are more pragmatic: they are not against the formula, but want to see how it would be developed and how much it would cost. Olaf Scholz’s government in Germany, increasingly politically weakened, with serious problems within the coalition and where the debate on immigration has worsened in recent times alongside the rise of the far right, has so far not had a clear and unified position. on controversial centres.
“If we look at the numbers, [los centros de deportación extracomunitarios] “They are not really the solution for a country as big as Germany,” the German chancellor said pragmatically upon his arrival at the summit. The Belgian Prime Minister, the liberal Alexander de Croo, expressed himself in a similar way: “In the past they have shown that they are not efficient and that they would be very expensive. What works are agreements with third countries [no comunitarios]”. In fact, this is everyone’s favorite option: pacts like those signed with Tunisia or Egypt – controversial because they were signed with regimes known for their human rights violations – to provide them with funds and help them with development programs in exchange of a stoppage of departures towards the community territory.
The change in the immigration debate, which will be debated among the Twenty-Seven, is clear. Also the reality that today in the EU only two of the big countries, Spain and Germany, are governed by social democracy. But even a centre-left executive does not guarantee a less harsh policy on immigration: Denmark, the country that in May launched the proposal to explore the idea of expulsion centres, to which fifteen countries have joined, and one of the harshest on the immigration front, it has a socialist coalition government. In Brussels on Thursday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen expressed enormous satisfaction that more and more countries are open to the idea of such deportation camps.
The idea of deportation camps where asylum seekers can wait for an answer to their case – which was already on the table years ago and was withdrawn due to the serious legal doubts it entailed – is just a further example of how the positions of the asylum seekers Member States are increasingly strict on the issue of immigration. For everyone it is a substantial debate, with serious electoral repercussions, even if everyone takes their own reality into account. But beyond the political debate there is the reality: irregular arrivals in the EU territory decreased by 42% in the first nine months of the year, according to the European Border Agency (Frontex), even if those on the route from the Canary Islands to Spain.
For countries that support “innovative solutions” – the euphemism used today in community clubs to talk about models like the Italian one in Albania or a European adaptation of these camps – these ideas are one of the formulas for increasing deportations. “The Albania model has a financial cost and complicated logistics, the question is whether it works and whether it provides an advantage beyond visual outsourcing,” remarks a veteran diplomat. “We still have to see what model is on the table, what types of centres, for which asylum seekers, for how long and what will happen to them afterwards if the answer to their case is negative and they cannot be deported to their country of origin. origin,” says another.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, underlines in the letter sent to the Member States to open the debate at the summit this Thursday that the model of Giorgia Meloni, Italian Prime Minister, will serve to draw “practical lessons”. To implement it at a European level, with the different realities, a legal change would be needed to avoid problems with community law, in line with the Commission’s proposal, underline European sources. The design of this reform will be in the hands of the new commissioner of Austria – who will hold the Interior portfolio -, one of the extremist immigration countries.
Human rights organizations have warned of the enormous risks of the measure, which could result in new human rights violations. The Albania model, which involves the transfer of asylum seekers rescued at sea to one of those camps managed by Italian staff, is extremely controversial. But the Balkan country’s prime minister, Edi Rama, acknowledged that other governments have contacted him with proposals to set up their own centers there. “It is impossible to adequately assess people’s vulnerability while on a ship at sea. To do this properly, you need resources that are only available on land,” says Juan Matías Gil, head of search and rescue for Doctors Without Borders.
Parallel minicumbra
Before the joint meeting, the far-right Meloni convened, together with Denmark and the Netherlands, a mini-summit during the meeting of EU heads of state and government in Brussels to talk about migration and innovative solutions, at which A dozen leaders attended, according to diplomatic sources. Austria, Cyprus, Poland, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Malta, Slovakia participated; also the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. The Italian Prime Minister had already organized a meeting of this type at the Granada summit a year ago, which Von der Leyen also attended.
The leaders of the European People’s Party, less and less centre-centric and more and more similar to far-right groups on issues such as immigration, also supported this Thursday the idea of studying the creation of deportation centres. “We should be ready to learn lessons now that we enter the implementation phase of the agreement between Italy and Albania. In the same spirit, we should explore options for return transit centers that relieve pressure on our reception and asylum systems,” they say in a statement released after the meeting of European popular leaders in Brussels.
The immigration debate is expected to get increasingly tougher. Member states are finding it difficult to agree on the conclusions of Thursday’s summit, but not because of the controversial “innovative solutions” which, although they are on the table, are not yet written. A group of countries, including Spain, France and Germany, want to speed up the implementation of the rules that make up the migration pact. Others want to advance a part, something that can unbalance a system thought of as a whole. There are also countries, such as Poland and Hungary, which refuse to mention a migration pact against which they have already spoken out.
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