Dutch far-right wants to deport rejected asylum seekers to Uganda

Brussels – While the European Council underway in the EU capital discusses, among other things, migration and repatriation, this morning (Oct. 17), the head of the government of the Netherlands put forward a proposal that is bound to stir debate. In essence, The Hague is reportedly considering deporting African refugees rejected for asylum to Uganda. The issue of so-called “repatriation hubs” in third countries has been a hot topic in recent weeks, taking center stage among the Twenty-seven heads of state and government, who will now also have this “innovative solution” to consider.

Before the meeting of the leaders of the Twenty-Seven officially began, some of them met this morning at the invitation of the Italian premier Giorgia Meloni, Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, and Dick Schoof of the Netherlands to “talk about countering irregular migration flows and in particular innovative solutions” to manage the problem at the European level, in the words the Italian premier. The other participants were the head of the EU executive, Ursula von der Leyen (who recently openly praised the idea of external hotspots), and representatives from Austria, Czechia, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary.

During the meeting, where Meloni presented as successful the outsourcing of asylum claims assessment procedures in the two CPRs (centers of detention for repatriation) in Albania that have just come into operation, Schoof put forth the idea, which has matured in his cabinet, of sending refugees who unsuccessfully applied for asylum in the Netherlands to Uganda, thus deporting them. The move would regard asylum seekers from the East Central Africa region, who, in the plans (yet to be worked out in detail) of the Dutch government, should be “taken in” by Kampala in exchange for financial compensation.

During a trip to Uganda, Dutch Minister for International Trade Reinette Klever (from the PVV, the ultra-right-wing anti-migrant party of Geert Wilders that won the election last November) declared that “It is important for the government that those who have exhausted all legal remedies return to their home countries.”

The agreement with Uganda, described by the minister as “a hospitable country” despite continuous human rights violations (from the freedom to express political dissent to the freedom to express one’s sexuality freely, with homosexuality banned by law), is still undefined and will have to be explored by the asylum policy officer, his party colleague Marjolein Faber, in coordination with Ugandan Foreign Minister Jeje Odongo, who reportedly said he was open to talks. In fact, there appears to be no agreement even within the four-party coalition that holds together the government in The Hague.

Denmark, which co-organized this morning’s event with Italy and the Netherlands, reportedly proposed a similar solution but focused on Kosovo. It is not the first time that such a solution has been suggested to address the “problem” of where to place individuals leaving their country of origin to try to enter the EU and are refused asylum. Germany, for example, is reportedly considering shipping Afghan applicants to Uzbekistan in exchange for a promise to accept more Uzbek economic migrants. Faber has recently shown interest in the Central Asian country as a possible destination for Dutch transfers.