The European People's Partythe European Parliament's biggest political force, advocates the transfer of asylum seekers to third countries in the manifesto presented today on the first day of its conference in Bucharest.
This proposal is a clear change in European immigration policy, which was implemented during her term Ursula von der Leyenwhose candidacy for a second term in the presidency of the Commission is expected to be ratified today by the conference of the European People's Party.
“We are in favor of a fundamental change of European law asylum (…) We want to implement the idea of a safe third country”, the text that will be put to a vote in the afternoon states. “Every asylum seeker in European Union he will be able to be transferred” to one of these countries “and start the asylum procedures there”. “In the event of a positive outcome, the third country in question will provide him with protection on the spot” based on a “comprehensive binding agreement” which will have been concluded in advance.
The European People's Party thus adopts a point of the program of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU). The aim of the measure is to reduce the number of arrivals in the European Union, party official Jens Spahn explained in an interview with the local press in mid-December.
There are many who will not come “if it is clear that this will develop within 48 hours into a transfer to a third safe country outside the European Union”, he said, referring to Rwanda, Ghana or even Eastern European countries such as Georgia and Moldova. The idea is reminiscent of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's controversial plan to transport migrants to Rwanda. The British plan has been criticized by Brussels.
European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson declared in 2022 that this way of “externalizing asylum procedures does not constitute a humane and reliable migration policy”. In the context of a slightly different idea, Italy signed an agreement with Albania for the transfer to its territory of migrants rescued at sea and the process of examining their file. More than one million asylum applications were lodged in the European Union, mainly by Syrians and Afghans, in 2023, a seven-year record number, according to the European Asylum Agency.
In this context, the European Union reached an agreement in November on a wide-ranging reform of its migration and asylum policy aimed at strengthening the fight against irregular migration.
It foresees the strengthening of checks on the arrivals of immigrants in the European Union, but also a mechanism of mandatory solidarity between the member states in taking care of asylum seekers.
Source: News Beast
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