“I say it clearly: we are not in favor of that type of formulas because […] They do not address any of the problems and create new ones. Pedro Sanchez has categorically rejected reception centers for migrants outside the borders of the European Union. The proposal, which comes from the Italian extreme right, has permeated other Member Statesas Netherlands. The Government of the Canary Islands has also shown itself open to “exploring” this alternative as a “solution” to immigration drama.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyennor does it rule out any possibility. The community leader has sent a letter in which she takes up the gauntlet for Italy and asks to reflect on “innovative formulas” to control the “irregular migration“. Giorgia Meloni last week deported a group of 12 migrants rescued in Mediterranean waters, as part of a plan that aims to manage asylum applications from outside the EU. He sent them to a holding center in Albaniabut the Italian Justice ordered their return and confirmed that two of them were minors. The Minister of Youth and Children of Spain, Sira Regohas described the action as “nonsense” and has denounced the “violation of children’s rights.”
Andreu Domingo (UAB): “It is evident that there is a racist component in the ethnic selection of migrants”
The star proposal of Meloni to set the political and social agenda of Brussels has begun failing. The Italian Executive approved this Monday a decree to shield their migrant centers abroad and make a “list of safe countries“from which a migrant person would not have to escape. “It is evident that there is a clearly racist component in the ethnic selection of migrantsin the approach of which can and cannot be protected,” warns Andreu Domingo, deputy director of the Center d’Estudis Demogràfics of the UAB, in a conversation with Public.
Carlos de las Herasresponsible for Europe and the Middle East at Amnesty International Spain, supports this thesis. “The Italian Justice argued in its ruling that the security of a country could not be defined based on the status of the majority of its territories, that is, if there is a risk in only one part, that country has to disappear from the list” , precise. Italy considers that there are 19 safe countriesamong them Bangladesh or Egypt, where the migrants sent to Albania came from. He Court of Justice of the European Unionhowever, lowers the figure to seven. “The law is made, the trap is made“, they regret from Amnesty International, in statements to this medium.
An attack on human rights
The European Commission continues surfing the ultra wave and is testing the opening of deportation centers outside the EU. This proposal could fit into the reform of the regulation on deportations prepared by the Community executive. Meloni is not the only one who views anti-immigration policy favorably. The Government of the Netherlands, which also includes the extreme rightis now considering the possibility of deporting asylum seekers from African countries to Uganda. What does international law say?
Mónica López (CEAR): “It is not clear what is going to happen with the rights of the detained people”
Mónica López Martín, general director of CEAR, acknowledges having “doubts” about the proposal. “It is not clear to us what will happen to the rights of any person detained.nor do we know if the retention periods contemplated in the regulations will be exceeded. He migration and asylum pactwhich has not yet entered into force, but has been signed, proposes the creation of an independent body to monitor compliance with all guarantees in border procedures, both asylum and return. We talk about issues such as legal assistance or the right to an interpreter. Are external countries, like Albania, going to take this into account? It is our big doubt,” he warns.
The formulas proposed by Brussels revolve around the model of deportation campsbut outside the community borders and managed with EU staff. “This is going to put migrants in legal limbo and asylum seekers, increasing their vulnerability and the fragility of protection at the borders,” says Lorena Calvo Mariscal, professor of International Law at the University of Cádiz. The community authorities have recognized that, to carry out Meloni’s plan, a reform of European regulations is needed about deportations.
“This formula seeks to avoid the responsibility of examining applications for international protection that arrive on European territory. HE outsource the functions and, therefore, the responsibility in matters of human rights and immigration law. Not even the European Pact on Migration and Asylum allows Member States to completely exempt themselves from this obligation,” he explains. Joana Abrisketaprofessor of International Law at the University of Deusto. He European People’s Party (EPP) included the creation of deportation camps outside the EU in its electoral program for the European elections on June 9.
Carlos de las Heras (AI): “Why do we have to unnecessarily extend its route?”
Meloni assures that “many countries observe” the immigration policies of his Government, which is why he has decided to call a meeting with “like-minded” countries to exchange points of view and debate the proposal. Spain, France or Germany have not participated in the meeting. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has also rejected the proposal. “The European directives are designed for application in the Member States and establish the obligation to do interviews to detect the additional vulnerability of migrants and refugees. How and who is going to guarantee that this is fulfilled?” insists Mónica López Martín.
“The timely disembarkation also concerns us, that is, the impact these trips can have on search and rescue operations. If we take into account that many of the people who risk their lives at sea go through traumatic experiences, why do we have to unnecessarily extend their journey?”, slips Carlos de las Heras. The bulk of rescues in the Mediterranean take place between Libya, Tunisia, Malta and southern Italy. The closest and safest ports are those of Sicily and Lampedusa. Disembarking in Albania, for example, would mean an average of 48 more hours of navigation “with good sea.”
Deportation camps have a history
The European Commission demands the need to accelerate the application of the directives that make up the migration pact, while different human rights organizations They denounce the devices proposed by Meloni. The retention centersHowever, they have precedents in the last decade. “This is not new, precisely during the call crisis of the refugees, some Member States strengthened cooperation with third countries and they left border control in their hands. In 2018, a kind of political guideline was published for the creation of disembarkation centers outside the EU,” recalls Lorena Calvo Mariscal.
“What they achieve is to perpetuate the belief that migrants are a danger”
Joana Abrisqueta also looks back and rescues another example. “The proposal has another precedent in the European Union-Türkiye Declaration, a agreement who they did not want to call agreement. Turkish authorities committed to taking care of Syrian migrants that would reach the Greek islands in exchange for 6,000 million euros, delivered by Brussels. The strategy, by the way, did not work,” he says. The sources consulted by this newspaper also appeal to the agreement of United Kingdom with Rwanda, which laid the foundations for a “harsh” policy of expulsions to the African country. With this pact, the British ensured the deportation of migrants in an irregular situation, even before studying their asylum applications.
The normalization of racism
Humanitarian organizations reject the proposal “certainly negative” of the European extreme right and warn of the possible consequences of normalizing racist discourses. “We cannot forget that migrants arrive at reception centers and are interned – many times – against their will. This goes against integration; highlighting that they come from outside and separating them from their social circle, criminalizing them, achieves just the opposite effect,” laments Hassiba Ziati, criminologist and expert in social mediation. Andreu Domingo shares this analysis and notes the “social consequences” of this type of policy. : “What they achieve is to perpetuate the belief that migrants are a danger and that the EU is under siege”.
Experts also denounce that Brussels “is going overboard” and does not have a clear idea on how to respond to the immigration situation. “The proposal for the detention centers is the latest twist in the racist and xenophobic discourses of the right and the extreme right. The consequences ultimately lead almost to social disintegration“says Mónica López Martín, director of CEAR. Carlos de las Heras, head of Europe at Amnesty International, ends with a message to the community authorities: “Instead of strengthening asylum systems, they put up walls and fences even outside their borders. own borders. The message that remains is that migrants are not welcome“.
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