00:00There is a new legislative proposal to speed up the deportation of asylum seekers that
00:19didn't get permission to stay in the European Union.
00:23Their claims are processed in state reception centers like this one.
00:29In a move to shore up the asylum and migration rules, the European Commission is even now
00:34considering sending the returnees to deportation centers outside the bloc.
00:39This week's EU Decoded explains the common European system for returns.
00:44The revised regulation fills a gap within the Pact on Migration and Asylum to be implemented
00:50from June 2026.
00:52This specific proposal wants to address the fact that only about 20% of yearly deportation
00:59orders are carried out according to Eurostat.
01:02Lists of safe countries of origin and safe third countries to which people whose asylum
01:07applications are rejected may be sent should be defined.
01:12Deportation centers, called return hubs, could be built in countries outside the EU.
01:18The non-EU countries would receive financial incentives from EU states to host these centers,
01:24but some returnees may never have been in those countries.
01:27We asked Europeans what they think about what people describe as outsourcing of migration policy.
02:27With us is Jorge Liboreri, who has been following migration and asylum policy for Euronews.
02:39Until recently, the European Commission rejected this idea of the so-called deportation centers
02:46in non-EU countries.
02:48What has changed in the meantime?
02:50Well, basically the politics changed.
02:52Europe as a whole has moved further to the right, gradually, and ideas that used to be
02:57more common in far-right circles, hard-right circles, like outsourcing of migration, gradually
03:03moved into the mainstream.
03:05And the Commission responded to this by incorporating the policy into its own policy, but it's really
03:11a normalization of a policy that used to be considered extreme, now it's acceptable.
03:17What could be the role of the European Commission in the eventual setting up of the so-called
03:23return hubs?
03:24Well, the Commission, in its regulation, has done something very interesting.
03:28It has put forward several articles that establish the legal basis for member states to build
03:35these deportation centers outside of the European Union.
03:39But then the Commission will not be involved in the managing of these centers.
03:44So in a way it's saying, you can do it, but I don't want to know anything about this.
03:49That being said, which countries are more likely to support the idea, and which might
03:54be a little bit more against it?
03:57Well, this is an unprecedented idea, so I think some member states will really think
04:01it twice, three times, four times before going ahead with it.
04:06But we can see that Italy, Denmark, and the Netherlands have been leading the political
04:11discussions around outsourcing, bringing other countries in a sort of coalition.
04:16But I think these three countries that led the debate might also lead this push to actually
04:22build the centers, now that the regulation is on the table.
04:26The regulation states that the rejected asylum seeker must cooperate with the authorities,
04:32including providing ID and biometric information, as well as not absconding to another member state.
04:39If the person does not cooperate, the consequences can include reduction or refusal of benefits
04:45and allowances, seizure of identity documents, and longer entry bans.
04:50We discussed the pros and cons with two members of the European Parliament who have very different
04:56positions on this proposal, and that we'll discuss it in the Justice and Human Rights Committee.
05:01It is a global consideration of the migratory phenomenon, from the point of view of the ability
05:15of member states to return.
05:18And in that sense, we do believe that it has all the conditions to be an instrument that
05:23allows a much more effective policy of return.
05:26I think, indeed, it's not the answer that is needed in terms of returns.
05:30I think this return directive is just a political answer to the claims of the far right,
05:37be it Meloni or others, that want to strengthen and to assimilate migration issues with security issues.
05:46And we've seen it all over the place.
05:48And we've seen it all over the place.
06:19There will be no monitoring of fundamental rights, even if it's claimed so.
06:23How will the EU check whether on the ground, in the third countries, the human rights of people will be respected?
06:32We see that already today, without these official apps, there are human rights violations all over the place.
06:48If there is a framework of respect for fundamental rights and the necessary mechanisms to monitor
06:56these fundamental rights, I believe that it will be much easier, from a legal point of view,
07:06that the initiatives of the centers of return can, let's say, pass the judicial control.
07:15The legislators should take that into account.
07:17The whole concept of safe third countries is also being revisited,
07:22which means that there's no guarantee today that those countries are safe for the people that will be sent to them
07:30and that their fundamental rights will be respected.
07:33A European return order is also part of the proposal, so that all member states respect a decision taken in one of them.
07:40So, will this be enough to increase solidarity and cooperation between member states on such a controversial issue such as migration?
07:49Anyway, the concept of fortress Europe seems to be consolidating in a world increasingly concerned by border security.
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