STRASBOURG, France: The European Union wants to increase deportations and is opening the way for “return hubs” to be set up in third countries for rejected asylum-seekers, according to a new migration proposal unveiled Tuesday.
Only 20 percent of people with a deportation order are effectively removed from EU territory, according to the European Commission, which presented the “European System for Returns” in Strasbourg as a potential solution.
The proposal aims to set a standard for all 27 members of the bloc and allow national authorities from one country to enforce the deportation order issued by another. Such rules were missing from the EU’s migration and asylum pact approved last year.
“The European system needs to be clear that when someone is issued a return decision they are being told to leave, not just the country but the entire European Union,” said Magnus Brunner, the EU’s commissioner for migration, who called the current 20 percent removal rate unacceptable.
“Any figure would be an improvement, but we don’t want to pin down any specific figures,” he added.
For the proposal to work, however, the EU needs to get countries of origin to readmit their citizens. Brunner acknowledged that the commission and member states are still working on improving that.
The “return hubs,” a euphemism for deportation centers, would apply only to people whose asylum requests have been rejected and exclude unaccompanied minors, Brunner said. He added that any future deal would have to include safeguards to ensure international law and human rights are respected.
The EU wouldn’t set up or manage such centers, which could be in Europe or elsewhere, but would create the legal framework to allow states to negotiate with non-EU countries willing to take the rejected asylum-seekers.
This differs from the existing but so-far ineffective deal signed by Italy with Albania to offshore the asylum processing of migrants rescued at sea. At the time, the contentious plan was applauded by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as an “out-of-the-box” solution to manage irregular migration but courts in Italy have repeatedly blocked it.
Brunner reiterated the need for “innovative” solutions to manage irregular migration and asylum — a highly politicized issue that the far right has used across the continent to gain votes.
While the potential “return hubs” were the most striking aspect of the proposal, it also included stricter punishments for those absconding deportations and extends the detention of rejected asylum-seekers posing a flight or security risk from 18 months to 24 months. The commission did not provide any data on how many people currently pose a “security risk.”
European Commission Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen, who presented the new migration reform alongside Brunner, said the proposal was tougher but fair and would encourage migrants to leave voluntarily before they had to be forcibly removed.
Migrant rights groups criticized the proposed reform saying it undermined the right to asylum and would lead to more detentions.
“We can likely expect more people being locked up in immigration detention centers across Europe, families separated and people sent to countries they don’t even know,” said Silvia Carta of the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants.
The proposal will now be sent to the European Parliament and member states for approval.