EU to set up return hubs in third countries
The European Union plans to establish deportation centres in non-EU countries. Representatives of the European Parliament and governments of the member states have reached a corresponding agreement, although it is not yet clear where the hubs would be located. The measure complements the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which will take full effect on June 12. Press responses are for the most part critical.
Risk of injustice and arbitrariness
Le Soir warns:
“The seemingly benign term 'return hubs' is merely a euphemism for prisons where these deportees – who have not necessarily committed any crimes – are locked up. ... How can we ensure that hidden from view, unmonitored, cut off from their home countries and with entirely uncertain or even nonexistent opportunities for appeal, they are not forgotten? The risk of injustice and arbitrariness is very real. And all this for potentially very limited results. The goal is to increase the efficiency of return policy, which is currently lacking. Yet all experts agree that its success can only be achieved through genuine – and currently non-existent – cooperation with the countries of origin.”
A further shift to the right
The EU's asylum policy is moving further and further to the right, says Delo:
“In future, greater emphasis will be placed on the effectiveness of return policies than on the rights of those involved in the proceedings. These people may also be subject to longer periods of detention. The creation of a legal framework for deporting rejected asylum seekers to centres located in distant third countries certainly signals a fundamental shift in European policy. What was once advocated by the hard-line segment of the European right regarding migration issues has now become part of the political mainstream.”
Cause for despair
Apparently there are no more taboos in the fight against migration, the Frankfurter Rundschau observes with consternation:
“Cooperation with the inhumane Taliban in Afghanistan? There is no alternative. Bolstering regimes like Libya's? As long as they take in our refugees. Protecting children and families? Not that important. Forcing people to stay in countries with which they have no connection? Detaining people who haven't committed any crimes? There's no alternative. And last but not least: cooperation with the far-right AfD? Apparently this is no longer a problem for the CDU/CSU. All of this is evident in the decisions of EU bodies. But for those who uphold human rights and the rule of law, this is cause for despair.”