European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suggested that the EU could learn from Italy’s controversial policy of processing migrants offshore in Albania, as the leaders of the 27-member bloc gathered for an EU summit centered on migration.
Ahead of the summit in Brussels, von der Leyen wrote to EU leaders, indicating that the EU’s executive body would soon propose new legislation to enhance the deportation of migrants. Italy recently began transferring some migrants to a processing center in Albania, sending 16 men to the port city of Shengjin. However, after their arrival, it was discovered that two of them were minors and two others had medical vulnerabilities, leading to their return to Italy.
Several other EU countries are also exploring the option of processing migrants in third countries. The Dutch government, for example, announced on Wednesday that it was considering sending rejected asylum seekers to Uganda.
By emphasizing migration in this week’s summit, von der Leyen, who has just started her second term as European Commission President, appears to be addressing growing pressure across Europe on migration issues. In her letter, she highlighted that only about 20% of irregular migrants ordered to leave EU countries actually do so, leaving most individuals who receive deportation orders staying in the EU.
Von der Leyen urged member states to recognize the deportation decisions made by other EU countries to prevent migrants with deportation orders from exploiting loopholes in the system to avoid being returned.
Under Italy’s agreement with Albania, some migrants rescued in the Mediterranean will be transferred to Albania for their asylum applications to be reviewed. Two processing centers costing approximately €650m (£547m) were initially scheduled to open last spring but faced significant delays. Funded by the Italian government, these centers will operate under Italian law. The plan excludes pregnant women, children, and other vulnerable groups.
The deal with Albania has been met with criticism from opposition parties in Italy and NGOs. Riccardo Magi, a left-wing MP with +Europa, labeled the scheme “cruel, useless, and expensive,” while Doctors Without Borders warned it could lead to further harm and human rights violations. Civil rights activists also protested near the center in Shengjin, displaying a banner that read, “The European dream ends here.”
Nevertheless, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni defended the agreement as a “new, courageous, and unprecedented” approach that embodies “the European spirit.”
The progress of the Italy-Albania plan will be closely monitored by other EU nations, many of which have responded to rising support for far-right parties by hardening their migration policies. Recently, Germany reinstated land border checks, France announced plans to tighten immigration rules, and Poland introduced a temporary suspension of the right to asylum for border crossers, citing concerns over Belarus facilitating large-scale migration into Poland.
In France and Germany, recent violent incidents involving migrants sparked calls for stricter immigration measures. In one case, a failed Syrian asylum seeker killed three people in Solingen, Germany, while a young student in France was murdered by a Moroccan national who had been ordered to leave the country.
Last month, 15 EU member states endorsed a proposal by Austria and the Netherlands aimed at improving the deportation system’s “efficiency.”
