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Deportation and readmission

'Euro-Rwanda' proposal to facilitate deportation camps in non-EU states published /// Member states could “strengthen” visa sanctions to encourage non-EU states to accept deportations /// Tunisian authorities violently coerce people into EU-funded removal schemes /// EU cooperation with Iraq heavily focused on deportations /// ICMPD organises training in Iraq on “sustainable reintegration”

'Euro-Rwanda' proposal to facilitate deportation camps in non-EU states published

On 20 May the European Commission published a proposal that would alter EU rules on the definition of a "safe third country." The proposal would make it possible for the EU to deport people to a country with which they have no connection, as long as an appropriate "agreement or arrangement" is in place. The proposal, which has to be agreed by the Council and the Parliament, is essential to the plan to create deportation camps in non-EU states.

In a detailed analysis, Steve Peers concludes that "the Commission’s proposal does not reproduce all the features of the UK’s failed policy, [but] is similar enough to raise comparable questions about its feasibility, and – if Member States also try to override court rulings about the safety of the countries concerned – its legality and morality too."

Member states could “strengthen” visa sanctions to encourage non-EU states to accept deportations

On 6 May, member state delegations in the Council’s Visa Working Party held a discussion centred on the “Article 25a mechanism.” Using the mechanism, the EU can restrict the issuance of visas to nationals of states considered insufficiently cooperative with deportations from the EU. Currently this includes The Gambia (since October 2021) and Ethiopia (since June 2024).

The discussion on 6 May was designed to let delegations “share their ideas” on what to consider in a “potential review” of the mechanism, according to a document (pdf). This included questions on whether the law should be changed to allow for “more efficient operationalization” of the mechanism, and whether it should be easier for the EU to trigger.

The outcome of those discussions may feed into the Commission’s forthcoming new visa policy strategy, which is due to be published in the last quarter of this year.

Tunisian authorities violently coerce people into EU-funded removal schemes

In April, the Tunisian National Guard violently dismantled a number of makeshift camps that were home to refugees and migrants. This included the burning of thousands of tents, displacing thousands of people.

InfoMigrants reported that a spokesman for the National Guard said the Tunisian government was working with the International Organisation for Migration and “with the countries of departure, of welcome as well as the international NGOs to ensure voluntary repatriation." 

The EU has provided hundreds of millions of euros to the Tunisian authorities for migration and border policies, including for encouraging “voluntary” returns. In March 2024, Statewatch reported that: “Direct capacity-building of national authorities to return non-Tunisian nationals to their country of origin is a novelty in the EU migration policies.”

The destruction of the camps and the pushing of people to “voluntary” returns programmes would seem to be the latest example of EU externalisation policies encouraging rights violations, just as critics warned when the EU and Tunisia signed a “memorandum of understanding” in 2023.

An internal EU document published with this bulletin (pdf) indicates that EU support for “voluntary” returns programme is set to continue: “there is a need to continue to further provide support to assisted voluntary returns hand-in-hand with sustainable reintegration,” it says. “The continuation of EU financial support for these activities, as well as sustained political engagement, are essential to build on achievements reached so far, including to intensify anti-smuggling cooperation and to further increase the return figures.”

EU cooperation with Iraq heavily focused on deportations

In February, the Commission’s DG MENA published the EU’s 2021-27 “Multiannual Indicative Programme” for Iraq. The document (pdf) sets out the EU’s funding priorities for Iraq for that period, and focuses heavily on “returns and reintegration”. The document says it is:

“…very important to support the government in managing return, readmission and sustainable socio-economic reintegration of Iraqi returnees from EU and non- EU countries. Developing cooperation in these areas would help those irregular migrants without perspectives abroad, to come back in dignity to their country and have a fresh start. It would also contribute to spreading realistic information on migration opportunities and risks, thus discouraging further irregular departures from the country. These areas of cooperation and others aimed at supporting migration management would take place in the context of the EU-Iraq Migration Dialogue.”

ICMPD organises training in Iraq on “sustainable reintegration”

As part of the Budapest Process, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) has been training officials from the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq on "sustainable reintegration" of returnees. This is part of a programme funded by the Danish government. It follows the opening in January of a "Migrant Resource Centre" in the region, funded by Sweden.