More than half of the Twenty-Seven call for relying on third-party partner countries, both to manage asylum requests and reduce arrivals in Europe.
The work began in the spring. In Gjadër, an Albanian village near the mountains, excavators appeared on the site of a former military base. About twenty kilometers away, prefabs arrived in the port of Shëngjin on the Adriatic coast. It is here, in the north of Albania, that a European first is taking place: the processing of asylum applications by a Member State, Italy, but on the territory of a country outside the European Union. Soon, migrants rescued at sea will first arrive in Shëngjin, before being held in Gjadër while they make their requests. LThe initiative is in its early stages, but it “confirms a worrying European trend”, alarms the Council of Europe : a propensity to “outsourcing of asylum responsibilities”which is gaining ground in the run-up to the European elections, organized from June 6 to 9 in the 27 EU countries.
In Albania, the new centers managed by Italy could accommodate up to 36,000 people per year. “I find it very difficult to imagine that the fundamental rights of third-country nationals are respected in this framework”, notes Marie-Laure Basilien-Gainche, professor of law at Jean-Moulin Lyon 3 University, specialist in migration and EU law. According to her, many questions remain unanswered: “I have doubts about the conduct of procedures for examining asylum applications. Will Italian associations really be able to be available to migrants on site, to help them on a legal level?”
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This academic is concerned about the right to recourse of these exiles. “We cannot detain a third-country national for the sole reason that they want to submit an asylum application. However, this will be automatic, which is in clear violation of European Union law.” And will they be detained in dignified conditions? “The risks of inhumane and degrading treatment cannot be ignored.”
However, no less than 15 member states sent a letter to the European Commission on May 15relating to “new solutions” in the face of migration. The protocol between Albania and Italy is cited as an avenue to explore. The idea is put on the table: in these third countries, “lasting solutions could be found for these migrants”.
“It is important that member states have the possibility to transfer asylum seekers, for whom a safe third country is available, to these states.”
Ministries from 15 EU member statesin a letter to the European Commission
Two states, Austria and Denmark, even support the British law which provides for deportation to Rwanda asylum seekers arriving irregularly across the Channel. Outsourcing has made its way to manifesto of the European People’s Party (EPP), leading political group in the European Parliament. Even German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a social democrat, agreed to “check the idea” and its legality, after requests from the Länder and its liberal-democrat coalition partner, reports Euractiv.
For Camille Le Coz, associate director of the Migration Policy Institute Europe, this speech “really gained ground” in Europe. The idea is not new, “but the subject had rather been evacuated” in the past, “for legal considerations and lack of partners”. “There, clearly, these ideas are reactivated. The European Commission will have to respond to these expectations of the member states.”
Several factors made the idea less taboo. It is part of a context of increasing requests for protection in Europe: last year, 1.14 million exiles have applied for asylumor 18% more than in 2022. Irregular arrivals, of the order of 280,000 in 2023however, are far from the peak of 2015. Talking about outsourcing “is notably a reaction to the rise of the extreme right” in Europecontinues Camille Le Coz. “There is a polarization of the public debate on migration with this rise of the extreme right. This makes a nuanced debate difficult.”
“Decisions take time, reception systems are in difficulty, returns are often not carried out… Politically, there is a search for magical solutions, which seem easy and quicker.”
Camille Le Coz, specialist in migration issuesat franceinfo
The researcher notes “the power of rhetoric” on outsourcing, but what about its application? “The acceptance of the principle of extraterritoriality is quite exceptional. It is quite a difficult piece to swallow for third countries”, underlines Jean-Louis De Brouwer, director of the European affairs program at the Egmont Institute. Edi Rama, Albanian Prime Minister, claims to have been approached by other governments attracted by the Italian experience. “I said no”assures the manager Financial Times.
Added to this is the cost of such measures: for Rome, it must amount to 653 million euros in five years, according to an Italian research center cited by the site. InfoMigrants.net. “It’s a costly and uncertain formula, with limited impact”supports Jean-Louis De Brouwer, formerly in charge of migration and asylum issues at the European Commission.
Across Europe, another recourse to third countries is progressing. In their letter to the Commission, Copenhagen, Rome or Warsaw “encourage” signing partnerships with States “located along migratory routes”in particular to better manage irregular arrivals. Brussels is already accelerating on this point. In less than a year, the EU signed a “strategic partnership” with Tunisia and concluded agreements with Mauritania, Egypt and Lebanon. With Tunis, it undertakes to provide aid of 105 million euroswhich will be used to improve coast guard equipment, “protection of migrants” and the returns of exiles.
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The EU has been developing these links for yearsbut this acceleration “is obvious”, confirms Jean-Louis de Brouwer. At the Commission, the specialist says he worked on the agreement between Ankara and Brussels, concluded in 2016. “Clearly the aim was for Syrian migrants to stay in Türkiye”he agrees. “But it was a targeted agreement, co-managed with the Turks, to strengthen their reception capacities.” His view of the latest partnerships is much more critical. Support provided to Tunis “does absolutely not translate into an improvement in the conditions of migrants” : “We are not far from Libyan hell.”
“The dynamic of externalization implies an erosion of the right to asylum, a negation of the principle of protection. However, this right to request protection is fundamental and absolute.”
Marie-Laure Basilien-Gainche, law professorat franceinfo
Hell, David Yambio says he experienced it during his detentions in Libya. “We were exploited, tortured. We had no access to drinking water”, affirms this South Sudanese, now a refugee in Italy, to franceinfo. With the Refugees in Libya collective, he tries to help those left on the other side of the Mediterranean. “I saw people killed, women raped. What is happening is a consequence of the cooperation between Italy, the EU and Libya”, he accuses.
A fact-finding mission recently recalled that Brussels and member states had provided “technical, logistical and financial support” to Libyan entities, “in particular for the interception and return of migrants to Libya”. However, European amounts “considerable” were diverted to the exploitation of exiles, according to information from the agency Associated Press.
These violations are far from stopping at the Libyan borders. In Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia, migrants are arrested and deported to desert areas close to neighboring states. And this, with the financial support of Brussels, revealed an investigation by several international media published by The world. In Tunisia, equipment financed by Member States were thus used during expulsions towards the borders. “Sometimes the situation is difficult in our partner countries”recognized Ana Pisonero, a spokesperson for the European Commission.
“It is also the responsibility of Europeans. We are talking about thousands of people and hundreds of deaths”says Franck Yotedje, director of the migrant aid association Afrique Intelligence, based in Sfax (Tunisia). The activist testifies to the pushbacks of exiles intercepted at sea, as this group of more than 100 migrants expelled at the border with Algeria. “Deportations of people arrested in Sfax have become commonplaceassures the association. I’ve heard so many stories.” For Franck Yotedje, Brussels is not sufficiently “stepping up to the plate” despite the warnings. “To denounce the treatment of migrants is to denounce the agreement with the EU. The focus is to limit migratory flows, but at what price?”