BRUSSELS (ANP) – The Netherlands and a number of other EU member states have called for intercepted asylum seekers to be transferred to countries outside the EU. There they will have to wait to find out whether they will be granted asylum in the European Union, according to a letter to the European Commission that member states are working on. Asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal remedies can also be accommodated there until their return journey.
Sources from The Hague and Brussels say that the Netherlands and supporters such as Denmark and the Czech Republic are directing the committee to the example of Italy, which concluded an agreement with Albania. Italy will transfer asylum seekers it intercepted in the Mediterranean to that non-EU country. There they then follow the asylum procedures.
Insiders say that the letter will serve as an invitation to the European Commission to enter into more partnerships, with the Turkish deal considered as an example. The letter did not include any concrete plans. Because the final touches have not yet been made, it is not yet clear exactly what ideas countries will submit to the committee. According to the sources, the controversial British Rwanda deal does not constitute a model in any way. This means that the European Union will deport asylum seekers to another country without any possibility of obtaining asylum in the Union.
objection
Human rights and aid organizations object to the agreements between Italy and Albania. But the European Commission has so far ruled that it does not violate European rules.
After the 2015 migration crisis, the European Union for the first time concluded agreements on stopping migrants, at that time with Turkey. These were controversial at first, but agreements have since been reached with Tunisia, Egypt and Lebanon, among others.
