Just over a decade since German Chancellor Angela Merkel initiated her “open-door” policy on immigration that flooded Europe with hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants, the cry of “enough” is finally being heard.
AP reports the European Union (E.U.) is enhancing its powers to track, raid and deport migrants to “return hubs ″ in third countries in Africa and elsewhere, quietly adopting successful tactics of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
The E.U. move to tighten migration policies comes after right-wing parties took power in some countries in 2024, taking office on a promise to closely monitor borders and those who would cross them illegally.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said the new measures will prevent a repeat of the 2015 crisis caused by Syria’s civil war, when about one million people arrived to seek asylum with Germany leading the way.
“We have learnt the lessons of the past. And today, we are better equipped,” von der Leyen has said.
The new policies, known as the Pact on Migration and Asylum, go into effect on June 12. AP reports Italy is providing the model:
What’s envisioned now is an expansion of what Italy has created under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her “tough on migration” stance. It operates two migrant detention centers for rejected asylum-seekers in Albania.
One currently holds at least 90 migrants, said lawmaker Rachele Scarpa, who said she found people confused and scared during a recent visit.
The AP report further notes in addition, “Meloni’s Cabinet has approved an anti-immigration package that would allow the navy to halt vessels in international waters for up to six months if they are deemed a threat to public order; return intercepted migrants to countries of origin or third countries; and speed up the deportation of foreign nationals convicted of crimes.”
That move is based on the simple premise used in the U.S. that deporting illegals – and stopping them landing – prevents them committing crimes against their host nation.
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An “informal group” of E.U. nations including Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark and Greece are pursuing deportation center agreements, said Bernd Parusel, a researcher at the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies.
In the UK, efforts to reduce the societal and fiscal impacts of the so-called “Boriswave” of millions of migrants who were allowed into the country after Brexit as a result of Boris Johnson’s immigration liberalisations, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has proposed scrapping the immigration status of “Indefinite Leave to Remain”, which many of the Boriswave migrants will soon be eligible to apply for, as Breitbart News reported.
Deportations of illegal migrants who cross the English Channel by boat after paying people smugglers would also face a rapid deportation under the Farage plan sooner rather than later.
Read the AP report in full here
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