The same week in which Ursula von der Leyenpresident of the European Commission, defended the creation of return centers outside the EU, The Italian Justice overturned the plans of the far-right Giorgia Meloni to send asylum seekers to neighboring Albania. The attempts to outsource migration beyond the community confines it takes years flying over European politicsbut now, with the most right-wing European Parliament, the Council table and the future Commission in history, it is gaining momentum. This is despite the fact that in 2018 a document from the Commission itself highlighted the illegality of these initiatives.
Shortly before the start of the European summit held last week in Brussels, and monopolized by migration, the Berlaymont tenant, inspired by the Meloni road, sent a letter to the 27 leaders proposing the creation of centers for migrants in third countries. “Von der Leyen must abandon her inhumane and illegal proposal to create deportation centers in third countries. It is unacceptable to bow down to the extreme right to bless an immigration model that violates human rights and that until now it considered illegal,” he said. Iratxe García Pérezleader of the Social Democrats, a family that gave its blessing and vote to a Von der Leyen who had already been a defender of this idea during the campaign.
Migration continues to be one of the most toxic debates between European partnersdespite the fact that in the first nine months of 2024 irregular entries into community land have decreased by 42%, according to Frontex figures. The first time that the EU addressed the debate on establishing non-EU asylum centers was in 2018. Those then baptized “landing platforms” – which intended to transfer people rescued at sea to Africa – fell on deaf ears after none of the third countries tested – Libya, Morocco, Tunisia or Egypt – agreed to welcome the asylum seekers or process their requests. .
Failing that, the Europeans opted for replicate the migration agreement with Türkiye, which consists of showering authoritarian regimes like Egypt or failed states like Libya with millions in exchange for stopping the barges before they begin their journey to the EU. Von der Leyen has recently asked to extend these pacts to other countries such as Senegal or Mali.
Establishing deportation centers in remote territories involves many complications from a logistical, operational, diplomatic, moral and, especially, legal point of view. “We are dismayed by the growing support, from many Member States and even the Commission, for the idea of sending people to centers outside the Union so that they can be deported from there. In addition to being a logistical and financial nonsense, is a cruel system that violates international and EU law and puts people at risk of abuse without clear options to obtain justice and reparation,” explains Michele LeVoydirector of the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM).
A document of the European Commission dated 2018 is clear: Externalizing migration is illegal because it restricts the universal right of everyone to request international protection. This is the Italian route, which sends applicants to Albania so that their asylum process can be processed abroad. “Returning an asylum seeker to a third country without processing their application constitutes a return and is not permitted by EU law or international law,” the text reads.
After that, the Meloni model also contemplates the expulsion to third countries of those who do not meet the requirements to obtain asylum. In many cases these are States with which they have no connection, since their countries of origin do not want them back. The final destination is made based on the bilateral agreements that each European country has sealed. And here there is a wide range of possibilities, since the recent Asylum Pact leaves open what is considered a “safe country.”
“According to EU legislation on returns, It is not possible to send someone, against their will, to a country from which they do not originate or through which they have not transited“, clarifies the document again, which concludes: “This scenario poses important legal and practical challenges. The risk of violating the principle of non-refoulement is high. “It is worth asking whether this scenario is in line with EU values.”
Critics, inside and outside the transatlantic country, have already cataloged the Meloni modelwhich seduces the majority of the EU, as the “Italian Guantanamo“.”The agreement between Italy and Albania, which many EU countries are now praising, is an inhumane, absurd and costly system that violates international obligations in matters of human rights. We expect and demand more from a Union that is supposedly based on values of human dignity and human rights,” warns LeVoy.
a few days ago, The Court of Rome censured the measure of the Italian prime minister and forced the first applicants who had arrived in Albania to return to Italy. However, the leader of the Brothers of Italy, supported and blessed by a large number of European leaders, is determined to continue with her plan. Also at the time, Justice stopped the United Kingdom’s attempts to deport migrants to Rwanda. The Netherlands recently launched a pilot project to send migrants to Uganda, although all of these attempts have ended up running into the courts. Poland goes further and threatens to suspend the right to request asylum based on the Russian threat. An act that Amnesty International refers to as “flagrantly illegitimate.”
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