{"id":396216,"date":"2024-10-09T14:54:36","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T12:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2024\/10\/09\/ue-rimpatrio-migranti-meloni-orban\/"},"modified":"2024-10-14T19:20:46","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T17:20:46","slug":"fortress-europe-melonis-line-on-migrant-repatriation-sets-a-precedent-in-the-eu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2024\/10\/09\/fortress-europe-melonis-line-on-migrant-repatriation-sets-a-precedent-in-the-eu\/","title":{"rendered":"Fortress Europe: Meloni’s line on migrant repatriation sets a precedent in the EU"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels–The\u00a0new Pact on Migration and Asylum–that has yet\u00a0to come into force\u00a0— sanctioning\u00a0the focus on migration’s “external dimension” is no longer enough: EU member states are already pushing for an increasingly rigid migration policy<\/strong>. As Schengen teeters<\/strong>, chancelleries would like to see a further crackdown on returns of irregular migrants,\u00a0<\/strong>physically removing them. Thus, the “new Europe” that Ursula von der Leyen is preparing to lead for another five years leaves behind\u00a0respect for human rights<\/strong>\u00a0and increasingly resembles\u00a0a fortress, the\u00a0walls of which could soon be erected<\/strong>\u00a0beyond\u00a0its own borders.<\/p>\n

Almost all elections held in the 27 member states<\/strong>\u00a0– from the European ones to national ones in\u00a0Austria<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0German states<\/a> – have shifted the European political center of gravity decisively to the right<\/strong>, leading to the entry of extreme right-wing<\/strong> formations into the area of government in many countries (or at least their approaching power<\/strong>). Confirming this trend is the new von der Leyen Commission<\/strong> with a record<\/a> of 15 members belonging to the Populars (EPP)<\/strong> and, for the first time<\/a>, an executive vice-president from\u00a0the Conservatives (ECR)<\/strong>, Italy’s Raffaele Fitto<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In the next few years, one of the most striking\u00a0imbalances will occur in migration policy<\/strong>, where\u00a0we can expect a\u00a0tightening of EU rules<\/strong>. The approval of the New Pact on Asylum and Migration<\/strong>, one of the last initiatives\u00a0of the outgoing\u00a0legislature, gave\u00a0a glimpse\u00a0of the direction in which the Union was\u00a0moving\u00a0at an accelerated pace. According to some media reports<\/a>, the interior ministers of about\u00a0fifteen or so member states<\/strong> (including two heavyweights, France<\/strong> and Germany<\/strong>) will explore expedients to “improve” the system of returns of irregular migrants<\/strong> when they meet in Luxembourg tomorrow (Oct. 10) for a meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs <\/strong>Council<\/strong>. They are expected to place on the table a revision – in a restrictive sense – of the Return Directive<\/strong>, which in its current form dates back to\u00a02008<\/a>\u00a0and is now regarded by more than one party\u00a0as widely insufficient<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The issue is increasingly relevant. Yesterday (Oct. 8), Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n<\/strong> explicitly backed<\/a> the creation of “hotspots outside the EU” where to hold<\/strong>\u00a0(or rather, detain) asylum seekers\u00a0<\/strong>while their applications are being processed, along the model of\u00a0the infamous return holding centers (Cpr) established by the Italian government in Albania<\/strong>. Hungary, which has the rotating EU presidency, will use the discussions at the Council as the basis for the summit of European leaders scheduled for Oct. 17-18. According to Eurostat data<\/strong>, in 2023, more than 484 thousand third-country nationals were ordered to leave the Union’s territory;<\/strong> of these, just under 19 percent were repatriated.<\/p>\n

After all, it is no secret that, over the past two years,\u00a0Giorgia Meloni<\/strong> has heavily influenced\u00a0Brussels\u00a0on migration<\/strong>, at least judging by the frequent\u00a0presence\u00a0of Commission President von der Leyen alongside<\/strong>\u00a0the prime minister\u00a0(see, for example, in Tunisia<\/strong> and Egypt<\/strong>). Hence, another idea the ministers of the 27 member states should discuss is strengthening partnerships with third countries<\/strong> to address the “root causes” of irregular migration\u00a0and stipulating repatriation agreements<\/strong> to send back people European governments don’t want in their territory.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) just condemned Cyprus\u00a0<\/strong>for the illegal deportation of a group of Syrian migrants to Lebanon<\/strong>, from which they were trying to reach the EU. According to the\u00a0judges<\/a>, the behavior of the Cypriot authorities, who intercepted the refugees on the\u00a0high seas and refused to consider them refugees (instead deeming them to be economic migrants), was inhumane and degrading<\/strong> and a violation of the prohibition of torture<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

While they wait for collective decisions, some member states<\/strong> have already unilaterally taken steps to build their national fortresses<\/strong>. The most sensational case<\/a>\u00a0recently —\u00a0\u00a0but only the latest in order of time – is that of Germany<\/strong>, whose center-left government has closed all its land borders<\/strong> with neighboring countries on the grounds of security concerns<\/strong> following the Solingen bombing. According to Berlin, the move produced the desired results, causing a drop in asylum applications.<\/p>\n

So much for the good old Schengen space<\/strong>, which chancelleries continually suspend and reactivate according to the needs of the moment. It\u00a0will be another<\/a>\u00a0item on the table tomorrow in Luxembourg. So while Bulgaria<\/strong> and Romania<\/strong> seek full entry, the area that theoretically is meant to be for free movement<\/strong> is being undermined\u00a0from within.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some 15 member states could join Orb\u00e1n’s proposal, based on the “Albanian model” introduced by the Italian government, to create external hotspots to process asylum applications, while strengthening partnerships with third countries<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7876,"featured_media":396181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"0","show_view_counter":"0","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25681],"tags":[25835,26206,26064,28755,29303,28777,28056],"class_list":["post-396216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-viktor-orban-en","tag-applicants-asylum-en","tag-giorgia-meloni-en","tag-immigration-irregular-en","tag-directive-repatri-en","tag-spazio-schengen-en","tag-area-schengen-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7876"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396216"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":396564,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396216\/revisions\/396564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}