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EU tough on migrants, paves way to controversial return hubs

EU tough on migrants, paves way to controversial return hubs

Ramps up migration crackdown, possible hubs outside borders

ROME, 14 March 2025, 15:28

ANSA English Desk

ANSACheck
- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The issue of returning rejected asylum seekers has caused heated debates in the European Union for years. Many governments in the 27-nation bloc have repeatedly called for stricter rules to return rejected migrants faster to their country of origin.
    A souring of public opinion on migration has fuelled hard-right electoral gains in several EU countries, upping pressure on governments to harden their stance.
    Led by the governments of Sweden, Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands, EU leaders called in October for urgent new legislation to increase and speed up returns and for the European Commission to assess "innovative" ways to counter irregular migration.
    On Tuesday, the Commission responded with new plans for tougher deportation rules and stricter controls intended to accelerate the return of rejected asylum seekers and other migrants who don't have a right to remain in the EU.
    According to the Commission, currently only around 20 percent of people who are ordered to leave actually return to their country of origin.
    "With the new European return system, we will ensure that those who have no right to stay in the EU are actually returned," EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner told a press conference in Strasbourg. "This will significantly strengthen trust in our common European asylum and migration system," he added.
    Common deportation rules in the making The set of measures is aimed at introducing common rules across the bloc on how to process rejected asylum seekers and people who overstay their visa, Brunner said.
    Deportation orders issued by one EU country are to be automatically recognised by other member states to avoid repeating legal proceedings in different countries.
    Under the proposal, the Commission is seeking to give EU countries the possibility to sanction people who do not co-operate with authorities by imposing financial penalties through reducing or withholding benefits, confiscating identity documents or imposing an entry ban.
    Some MEPs have however warned the proposal lacks stronger leverage on third countries to take deported migrants. According to Czech MEP Nicola Bartůšek - whose Oath party is a member of the far-right Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament - "the proposal is still too soft". She added that the EU could put pressure on these countries using its visa policy or the aid it pays to them.
    Most controversial is the creation of "return hubs" outside the EU where rejected migrants could be sent pending transfer home.
    This is not possible at present as under EU rules migrants can be transferred only to their country of origin or a country they transited from, unless they agree otherwise.
    The proposed regulation would allow EU countries to strike deals with other nations to set up such centres. The move opens the way to forms of externalisation of migration control procedures and, in this sense, follows the direction of the protocol signed between Italy and Albania.
    The agreement, signed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama, in Rome in November 2023, envisages that up to 3,000 migrants and refugees per month who are still awaiting their asylum decision from Italy will be housed in Albania.
    The centres in Albania are meant to fast track the asylum requests of (some) migrants. People with special needs such as the elderly, children or pregnant women are excluded from the deal.
    However, EU officials say the proposed return hubs are a fundamentally different concept - involving unsuccessful asylum seekers rather than individuals seeking European protection.
    Fraught with legal and ethical concerns, some experts say return hubs are an expensive and impractical idea that is unlikely to see large-scale uptake any time soon despite the Commission's proposal.
    Dr Marta Welander of the International Rescue Committee warned the proposal was likely to result in "families being torn apart, people being held in prison-like conditions" and a heightened risk of rights violations.
    "Keeping people deliberately out of sight and out of mind is not a sustainable solution to Europe's migration challenges," she said.
    Irregular migration on the decline Amid roaring demands from EU governments to crack down on migration, figures show that irregular entries have in fact already been on the decline in several countries.
    Irregular border crossings detected into the EU were down 38 percent to 239,000 last year after an almost 10-year peak in 2023, according to EU border agency Frontex.
    In Slovenia, the number of irregular border crossings decreased significantly in 2024. Police have reported around 46,000 cases, almost 25 percent less than in 2023.
    Irregular migration across the Slovak border fell by more than 94 percent last year, according to a report on the activities of the chief border commissioner of the Slovak Republic for 2024.
    Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović said on Wednesday that the country reduced irregular migrant entries by nearly 70 percent last year.
    Media outlets and international non-governmental organisations often accuse Croatia of alleged violent police pushbacks, during which migrants were stripped of their documents, personal belongings, and mobile phones. The government rejects these allegations.
    In Denmark, which has one of the strictest immigration policies under prime minister Mette Frederiksen, 330 rejected asylum seekers were in deportation status at the end of 2024, while around 860 people were granted asylum last year.
   

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