Brussels Proposes European Countries Send Migrants to Deportation Centres Outside the EU

Brussels is following the script of tightening migration policies. European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, presented the new proposal for the EU's returns directive in Strasbourg on Tuesday, which opens the door for European countries to send migrants to deportation centres in third countries. This method has already been implemented by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni with the sending of migrants to Albania, a model questioned by Italian courts.

The returns directive is a fundamental part of implementing the new EU Migration and Asylum Pact and aims to increase the number of returns of migrants who have arrived in Europe irregularly. As European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Sunday, this rule seeks to facilitate the return of irregular migrants and ban entry to the community territory for those forcibly expelled. This will allow the EU-27 to "have a true returns system."

According to Von der Leyen, it is about offering "simple and clear rules" that "prevent escapes." The Commission's proposal introduces the legal possibility for member states to return individuals who have entered the EU illegally and have received a deportation order to "a third country with which they have a bilateral or EU-level agreement." These agreements must comply with international law and human rights, and families with minors and unaccompanied minors will be excluded.

The proposal announced on Tuesday follows the same line as the letter Von der Leyen sent to European capitals, which opened the door to the creation of migrant detention centres outside the EU, a model based on the agreement between Italy and Albania to deport migrants. The number of countries calling for a reform of the returns directive has grown as the far-right and populism have gained strength in Europe - they already govern in Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Hungary, and Slovakia.

In this context, Von der Leyen expressed openness to "explore innovative solutions," a euphemism for creating migrant detention centres in "safe third countries," demonstrating a hardening of migration policy. The Commission proposes signing bilateral agreements like the one between Italy and Albania for the deportation of migrants. "This reform will only work if those who do not have the right to stay in the EU are effectively returned. Currently, only 20% of nationals from third countries are extradited," the German insisted in October.