Five European nations have agreed on concrete steps towards a deal with an unspecified non-European Union country to host migrant return facilities, senior officials said, in a sign of mounting determination to counter immigration. Germany, Austria, Greece, Denmark and the Netherlands, known as the Group of Five, aim to sign deals this year to send migrants without legal residency to countries outside the European Union. The nations expected to host return centres have not been named.
A spokesperson for UNHCR said the agency had not been approached with details of the proposal and therefore could not comment. The Group of Five is set to reconvene in Munich, Germany, at the end of September to advance the plan. German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt confirmed that the group wants “to reach an agreement with third countries this year that will enable the establishment of return hubs”.
The European Parliament in June approved an overhaul of migration policy aimed at speeding up deportations and allowing member states to set up centres abroad, in what some critics of the policy say could weaken safeguards for asylum seekers. The Council of Europe, a non-EU body that promotes human rights, democracy and the rule of law, said in July that the proposed return hubs posed “considerable human rights risks”. Danish Refugee Council Secretary-General Charlotte Slente said a better policy would be to implement the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which focuses on stricter border screening, faster return procedures and expanded digital systems for managing asylum claims.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
