According to the EU Commission's calculations, only about 20 percent of those who have not been granted the right to stay in the EU actually leave the union. This has led to promises of upcoming EU proposals for updated common rules for deportations – but also wishes to create "return centers" to gather people who have been ordered to leave.
The three Swedish governing parties and the supporting party SD are now also backing this, according to Johan Forssell.
We now want the Commission to come up with a concrete proposal to take a stand on, both how it should work in practice and also address the legal issues that exist, says Forssell to TT.
Albanian model?
The agreement that Italy has entered into with Albania to handle parts of Italian asylum management on Albanian soil sees him as an example that there may be interest from countries outside the EU to host this type of center.
Which countries this might concern, he does not want to speculate about.
This is exactly what we want the Commission to look at. It is important that everything happens with respect for international conventions and it is facilitated if it happens at EU level, rather than bilaterally.
Criticized by Amnesty
The centers were one of the "innovative solutions" discussed when the EU's heads of state and government held a summit in Brussels in October. Afterwards, they received harsh criticism from, for example, the human rights organization Amnesty International.
"Return hubs are incompatible with EU law and international law and undermine the newly adopted EU pact on migration and asylum", Amnesty wrote in a statement afterwards.
Johan Forssell, however, feels an increasing support for the idea.
There is a lot of movement in Europe in the migration debate. Not least, we hear new tones in Germany on these issues, says the Minister of Migration.
In the EU countries' joint statement on migration from the heads of state and government's summit in Brussels on October 17, the importance of implementing the legislation that has been decided on – in practice, the asylum and migration pact that was voted on in the spring – is emphasized.
The EU leaders also call for increased cooperation with the countries where refugees come from or pass through. They want the EU Commission to quickly come up with new legislative proposals to speed up returns, a proposal that President Ursula von der Leyen has already promised.
Russia and Belarus are particularly condemned for their way of pushing migrants and asylum seekers towards the EU.
Furthermore, it is stated that "new ways to prevent and combat irregular migration should be considered, in accordance with EU law and international law".
Source: European Council
