Migrant deportations to increase says EU chief
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has suggested that the bloc could “draw lessons” from Italy’s controversial policy of processing migrants offshore in Albania, ahead of an EU summit focused on migration.
In a letter to member states ahead of the Brussels meeting on Thursday and Friday, von der Leyen said the European Commission would propose new legislation aimed at increasing the deportation of migrants.
As von der Leyen begins her second five-year term as European Commission chief, she appears to be responding to mounting pressure on migration issues across Europe.
She noted in the letter that the return rate of irregular migrants from EU countries is currently only around 20%, meaning most of those ordered to leave an EU member state do not comply.
Many remain in the country or move to another within the EU, she said.
Von der Leyen urged member states to recognize deportation decisions made by other EU countries, ensuring that “migrants with a return decision in one country cannot exploit gaps in the system to avoid deportation elsewhere.”
Her remarks come as Italy launches its long-anticipated scheme to send some migrants rescued in the Mediterranean to Albania for processing.
Earlier this week, 16 men from Bangladesh and Egypt were transferred from the migrant hotspot of Lampedusa, off the coast of Sicily, to one of two centers built on the Albanian coast where their asylum claims will be processed.
The centers, funded by the Italian government at a cost of around €650 million (£547 million), were due to open last spring but faced significant delays. They will operate under Italian law and house migrants while their asylum requests are reviewed. Pregnant women, children, and vulnerable individuals will not be part of the plan.
Political opponents of right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as well as several NGOs have criticised Italy’s deal with Albania.
Riccardo Magi, an MP with the left-wing +Europa party, said the Albania scheme was “cruel, useless and expensive”, while NGO Doctors Without Borders said it was “likely to result in further harm and violation of human rights”.
However, addressing MPs on Tuesday, Meloni argued that the plan was “a new, courageous, unprecedented path” which “perfectly reflected the European spirit”.
The implementation and the results of the Albania agreement will be watched closely by many EU member states, several of whom have attempted to respond to a surge in support for far-right parties by hardening their rhetoric and their approach to migration.
In the last few weeks alone, Germany reintroduced land border checks, the French government said it would look into tightening immigration legislation and Poland announced a plan to temporarily suspend the right to asylum for people crossing the border.
Polish PM Donald Tusk said the controversial move was meant to stop Belarus from “destabilizing” Poland by allowing large numbers of migrants into the country.
In France and Germany, it was grisly murders that prompted calls for tougher action on immigration. A Syrian failed asylum seeker stabbed three people to death in Solingen, while a young student was murdered by a Moroccan national near Paris. In both cases, the killings were carried out by men who had been given expulsion orders that had not been enforced.
Last month, 15 member states signed a proposal by Austria and the Netherlands to improve the “efficiency” of the deportations system.
