Offshore asylum centres are costly and inefficient, says Belgian PM
Asylum centres set up outside Europe's borders "have never proved effective", Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo said on Thursday morning as he arrived at the EU summit.
European leaders are due to tackle the issue of immigration at the autumn European summit in Brussels. The idea is to give them an opportunity to express and exchange views on the issue, without necessarily taking any decisions.
On Monday, Commission president Ursula von der Leyen sent a letter to the 27 member states outlining a ten-point plan to encourage the return of migrants. She does not rule out either "return hubs", which would concentrate people to be expelled in countries outside the EU, or the outsourcing of asylum applications for migrants rescued at sea, as Giorgia Meloni's Italy has been doing with Albania since Monday.
Drop in the ocean
"In the past, external hubs have never proved to be effective," De Croo said. "What works are agreements with third countries such as Tunisia, Mauritania and Egypt. The impact of these bilateral agreements is major," he said.
Just under a year after a controversial deal was signed between Italy and Albania, the first group of 16 migrants arrived at a centre in northern Albania this week. "For the moment, we can say that it is expensive and not very effective," said De Croo.
Above all, Germany wants to speed up implementation of the asylum and migration pact the EU adopted this spring
This kind of solution is a "drop in the ocean" when you look at the overall figures for a country like Germany, said German chancellor Olaf Scholz. 300,000 migrants entered the country irregularly last year, he said. The border controls that Germany reintroduced a month ago have helped bring the numbers down, Scholz said.
Above all, Germany wants to speed up implementation of the asylum and migration pact the EU adopted this spring. Ursula von der Leyen seems open to the idea. Scholz said he was in favour of making return policy more effective within the framework of European law.
Netherlands floats Uganda plan
In the Netherlands, the government has proposed sending asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal remedies to Uganda. Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on Thursday that he had consulted several member states, including Italy, Greece, Malta, Denmark, Poland and Hungary.
A tougher approach to migration must still respect international law, human rights and humanitarian obligations, said Harris
"This is a serious idea, but it needs to be refined," Schoof said. On Thursday morning, Belgian secretary of state for migration Nicole de Moor told local media that she did not want to dismiss the idea out of hand.
Irish prime minister Simon Harris said a European version of Britain's now-withdrawn deal with Rwanda must be avoided. A tougher approach to migration must still respect international law, human rights and humanitarian obligations, he said.
Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo ahead of an extraordinary summit of EU leaders in Brussels on 17 October 2024 © BELGA PHOTO BENOIT DOPPAGNE
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