The European Commission proposed on Tuesday a strategy for more effective returns of irregular migrants but did not address the issue of a common EU list of safe third countries and countries of origin.
The new operational strategy was presented by the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, and the newly appointed EU Return Coordinator, Mari Juritsch. The strategy will be discussed at the Informal Justice and Home Affairs Council today in Stockholm and later at the special European Council on 9 – 10 February.
The strategy has been worked out by the Return Coordinator with the support of a High-Level Network for Return of national experts. It covers four focus areas: targeted actions on immediate needs including joint return operations in defined third countries; accelerating the return process; promoting return counselling and reintegration; and the digitalisation of return management.
As previously reported, the Commission adopted in April 2021 a new strategy on voluntary return and reintegration of migrants and asylum seekers with no right to stay in the EU as a part of a common EU system. The strategy was described as a key objective under the so-called pact on migration and asylum which was presented by the Commission in September 2020.
At that time, only about a third of people with no right to stay in the EU return to their country of origin and of those who do, fewer than 30% do so voluntarily. According to figures given by Commissioner Johansson, the situation is about the same today or even worse. In 2022, the number of irregular migrants increased to over 300,000. The Covid-19 pandemic affected the return process.
Furthermore, only a small proportion of the return decisions by the EU member states are followed by readmission requests to the countries concerned. There is a need to set targets by the EU member states in cooperation with the Commission.
An effective and common EU system for returns should serve as a deterrent to help reduce unsafe and irregular migration, the Commission underlined. The Commissioner said that good progress had been made during the Czech EU presidency on the different files relating to the proposed pact and was optimistic that the speed will continue during the Swedish EU presidency.
The Commission did not reply in time of press to a question from The Brussels Times if the issue of a common EU definition of safe third countries and countries of origin has been addressed in the new strategy.
During previous rounds of negotiations, the Council did not agree on a position on a common European list as proposed by the Commission. Commissioner Johansson has said that every member state must make an individual assessment in each return case, where the personal situation is examined and the principle of non-refoulment is upheld.
Another question went also unanswered. As reported last week, the far-right Italian government has been exposed by the investigative publication Lighthouse Reports of illegally pushing back refugees and migrants to Greece under dismal conditions on private commercial ships. It is still unclear if their right to apply for asylum has been respected.
M. Apelblat
The Brussels Times
