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Putting asylum seekers in camps outside the EU has so far received a cold hand from Brussels.
But now Germany is beginning to swing – and perhaps there is an opening in the negotiations on the EU’s asylum and migration pact.
For several years, parties and politicians from, above all, the outer right have urged that all asylum processing be handled in camps outside of Europe.
More and more governments and countries have also picked up the ball, in line with steadily growing migrant pressure and in the absence of other common solutions.
However, the European Commission says no – at least for the time being. There are no rules for such activities outside the Union.
– Our opinion is clear: Current EU law only applies to asylum applications on the territory of EU countries, not outside, spokeswoman Anita Hipper stated on Monday.
“Must discuss”
Maybe a swing is under way. In Germany, both the Christian Democratic opposition within CDU/CSU and the liberal government party FDP have spoken in favor of a localized asylum process.
This is where the government-dominant social democratic SPD now seems to be on its way.
– We conclude migration agreements with several countries (in Africa) and if that ultimately means that you can also carry out the asylum process there, then that is something we have to discuss, said SPD’s one party leader, Lars Klingbeil, to the TV channel ZDF on Sunday.
Negotiating pacts
There may also be some opening in the ongoing final negotiations on the EU’s new asylum and migration pact.
The member states are pushing for a short stay in a country on the way to be able to send the asylum seekers back there – if only the country can be defined as sufficiently safe.
However, lawyers and human rights activists are concerned.
“If the changes in the new pact go through, the concept of safe countries can be used to further shift protection responsibility outside the EU,” writes researcher Andreina De Leo in an analysis for the EPC think tank.
FACTS Asylum processing outside the EU
In Britain – where immigration policy was one of the main reasons for leaving the EU in 2020 – the Conservative government has struck a deal with Rwanda to fly new arrivals there, to process their asylum applications from afar.
So far, however, all flights have been halted, pending a British court ruling on whether or not Rwanda is safe enough.
Within the EU, Denmark is mainly on the same track, helped by the fact that it has long had an exception from EU cooperation in the field of law and migration. However, the Danish government has put the plans on hold for the time being, partly due to internal disagreement, partly in the hope of being able to get more EU countries on board.
Among those interested is Austria, whose interior minister last week discussed the issue with his British colleague.
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